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The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. Jon Knoll considered not putting in the work to cover the chimney with lights this year, but said the display "doesn't look right" without the addition.
RACINE — Jon Knoll is a competitive guy. He’s the first to admit it.
When he sees tasteful displays of lights dripping from ranch homes and maybe an inflatable Santa Claus or some reindeer on the front lawn, Knoll looks for ways to one-up his neighbors.
On Erie Street between Shoreland Drive and North Street, the Knoll home is nearly impossible to miss — both with your ears and your eyes.
Lights switch on and off to the beat of “Carol of the Bells” or “Frosty the Snowman” and other holiday classics. Light-up icicles change color in the tree. Rain-like bulbs flicker in sequence in rows dripping down the chimney and along the roof. An inflatable dinosaur sits in front of the bay window, surrounded by snowman and unicorn friends.
A sign of his obsessiveness: the lights on the roof are evenly spaced, exactly six tiles apart.
Jon Knoll shows off one of the $200-plus boxes he uses to control the music and coordinated light show on his family's front lawn.
All of the wires plug back into two boxes that control the lights, turning them on and off or changing their colors in time with the preloaded music. There are three settings: “Rock N Roll,” “Trans-Siberian Orchestra” and “All Music.”
It wasn’t always like this.
When the Knolls moved into their home a decade ago, Knoll put up one strand of lights on the roof. But then they had kids — their daughters Mackenzie and Samantha are now 8 and 6 years old, and Mackenzie wants to start helping put up the lights next year.
“It starts with my daughters loving the Christmas lights,” Knoll said, while admitting “I have electrocuted myself a few times” with a laugh.
Jon Knoll, a Horlick High School special education teacher, stands amidst the bright and colorful Christmas display in his family's front yard on Erie Street Monday.
The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. This year's biggest addition, seen at center, is the light-covered PVC pipe tunnel leading up the the home's front door.
Two years ago, when a picture of the decorated Knoll home appeared in The Journal Times, it didn’t have the PVC-pipe tunnel covered in lights leading up to the front door. That was a new addition this year.
“Every single year it got bigger and bigger,” Knoll admitted.
Christmas lights appear to have become more popular during the pandemic, likely the result of people trying to boost their spirits.
Decorating for the holidays “does create that neurological shift that can produce happiness,” psychologist Deborah Serani told NBC’s “Today” show in 2017. “I think anything that takes us out of our normal habituation, the normal day in, day out ... signals our senses, and then our senses measure if it’s pleasing or not … Christmas decorating will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone.”
The spike in demand for the lights may actually have held back Knoll in the last two years. He always buys his lights and decorations on discount. But store shelves have been more likely to have been emptied before sales can start in 2020 and 2021.
Holiday spending nationwide increased greatly in 2020 despite the pandemic, and the National Retail Federation is predicting the biggest year-over-year increase in holiday spending this century in 2021.
Average electricity cost to light a Christmas display (10 strands of incandescent lights, 68.5 feet long each, plus two inflatables) from Thanksgiving to New Year's for six hours per night in Wisconsin: $18.44 for lights, 46 cents for inflatable Santa, 36 cents for inflatable snowman
In 2004, Americans reported spending $36 on Christmas decorations. By 2010, yearly spending grew to $49. In 2021, the total had again grew to $63.
Holiday retail sales may set a record this year. In October, the National Retail Federation predicted 2021 holiday sales surpassing 2020 by as much 11.5% to as much as $859 billion. Since NRF started tracking spending in 2002, nationwide holiday spending dropped only once, by 4.7% in 2008 as the Great Recession hit. The pandemic may have actually boosted gift spending last year, with the biggest holiday spending jump on record of 8.2%, from $718.6 billion in 2019 to $777.3 billion in 2020.
Sources: SimplyThriftyLiving, Statista, National Retail Federation
Knoll almost took it easy this year and skipped out on putting lights over the chimney. But then the house “doesn’t look right” without them. So he climbed on the roof again to throw the lights over the chimney. But then “I was like ugh no that’s just sloppy,” so he actually climbed on top of the chimney itself to situate the lights. And then, despite a slight fear of heights, he climbed up there a third time to move the lights again to make them just right.
He even bought a hammerjack with which he could drill holes into the roof “so I could put drywall anchors and screws in to hold up the lights.”
Knoll passed off some of the blame for how extravagant the lights have gotten on his brother, who has won competitions for his light work and gave him some pointers when the Christmas light addiction was getting started.
Putting up all the lights takes up about three full weekends in November. That’s followed by almost-daily tweaking and readjusting, especially after the strong winds earlier this month. Knoll didn’t want to guess how much has been spent over the years acquiring all the pieces, even if most of them were bought on sale —excluding the two music/light boxes that cost more than $200 each.
Knoll, an emotional-behavioral special education teacher at Horlick High School, figured he had not spent much more than $1,000 total over the last decade. It helps that this year’s new addition (the PVC tunnel) only cost maybe $40.
But the cost does keep running up, since the inflatables “are designed to fail” with motors rarely lasting more than a couple years.
For the first few years, Knoll’s wife, Jessica, didn’t stop her husband from going all out. Now even she is fueling it. The tunnel was her idea.
The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. This year's biggest addition, at left, is the light-covered PVC pipe tunnel leading up the the home's front door.
Rosa Martinez, 8, and Gabriel Martinez, 10, said they were surprised to see Santa, the Grinch, and a parade of helpers in their neighborhood. Martinez said, "Something nice happened today after all."
Folks driving through did not want to miss the opportunity to chat with Santa and Grinch.
Zamiya Wright, 9, is all smiles as she picks out her present — a scooter — from the Grinch and Santa.
Ronjnanae Seay, 9, influenced how gifts were distributed this year, so she was the first house Santa and Grinch visited in the Villa Street neighborhood Sunday.
It is a busy time of year for Santa's elves, so Sgt. James Pettis stepped up to help load the presents.
Jessica Greb of Orchestrating Good is shown with Santa. She said the purpose of the organization was to "cherish peace and ignite goodwill."
Officer Andrew Simon, of the Racine Police Department, helps load the toys.
Lexi Greb, 8, pitches in at the Villa Street COP House, which was the center of operations on Sunday in preparation for the visit from Santa and Grinch.
Inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove, Carol Amborn addresses envelopes Monday for holiday gifts going to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Ken Smars, left, and his wife, Karen Smars, work on wrapping a gift Monday at American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for a holiday delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
Plenty of American flags are available for distribution Monday in gift bags headed to Wisconsin Veterans Home members, who also received clothing, blankets, toiletries and other personal items.
Conrado Moreno, right, works his way through an assembly line-type operation Monday with other volunteers at American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove to fill gift bags for residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Kim Hemphill delivers more than 100 handmade blankets prepared by her group, known as Comfort 4 A Cause, to be included Monday in gift bags going to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
Kim McWilliams makes sure bags are complete Monday inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove as volunteers prepare holiday greetings to deliver to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Handmade cards from students at Kansasville Grade School are added Monday to holiday gift bags being assembled Monday at American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Tom Busse carries out gift bags being loaded onto trucks Monday at American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
About 30 volunteers work Monday inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove to prepare and ship gift bags and holiday greetings to residents at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
Joining about 30 other volunteers inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove, Bernice Steffens wraps a gift Monday headed to the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover to ensure residents of the home receive holiday greetings.
B. Shane Morris, left, and Tom Busse work to fill a pickup with holiday gifts on Monday outside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for delivery to residents of the nearby Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
Carol Amborn attaches greeting cards to gifts bags Monday inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for holiday deliveries headed to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Kim McWilliams adds American flags Monday to gift bags being assembled inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in nearby Dover.
Oliver Davidson wraps a gift Monday inside the American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove as part of an effort to make sure residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover receive holiday greetings this season.
Volunteers work at tables lined up inside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove to wraps gifts for a special holiday delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home.
Don Larsen, chairman of the committee that organized the event, carries gift bags Monday to trucks outside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove for delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
Parked outside American Legion Post 171 in Union Grove, a pickup truck is loaded with holiday gifts Monday for delivery to residents of the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Dover.
A personalized greetings reads, "Thank You For Your Service," on handmade holiday cards Monday prepared by Kansasville Grade School students for delivery to Wisconsin Veterans Home residents.
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Jon Knoll, a Horlick High School special education teacher, stands amidst the bright and colorful Christmas display in his family's front yard on Erie Street Monday.
Jon Knoll shows off one of the $200-plus boxes he uses to control the music and coordinated light show on his family's front lawn.
The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. This year's biggest addition, seen at center, is the light-covered PVC pipe tunnel leading up the the home's front door.
The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. Jon Knoll considered not putting in the work to cover the chimney with lights this year, but said the display "doesn't look right" without the addition.
The Knoll home on Erie Street, year after year, gets more Christmas decorations. This year's biggest addition, at left, is the light-covered PVC pipe tunnel leading up the the home's front door.
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