Dec. 23—FAIRMONT — The darkest nights of the year can also be the brightest, if Mike Phillips has anything to say about it.

Singing trees, lighted arches, candy canes and 10,000 lights come together in a lightshow spectacular that dazzles the neighbors on Avalon Road.

“What I really like is how it makes everybody smile that comes by,” Phillips said. “It seems to make everybody happy, and it’s one of the reasons I really wanted to do it. In the world we live in, there’s just not a lot of good things.”

Singing trees both emcee and perform, guiding viewers through a showcase that kicks off with the WVU marching band. The trees themselves are two dimensional, shaped out of strings of light and attached to the side of Philips’ house. The storied rock band Queen belts out some of their greatest hits, along with Christmas classics, before closing out with John Denver’s Country Roads.

Philips likes to play a guessing game with the audience, the lead tree asks the audience how many lights exactly are in the display, the 10,000 number is an approximate amount. The only prize so far is bragging rights but it’s all still part of the fun.

The entire display is computerized and took about six months to prepare. Phillips’ background in information security made him well prepared to take on such a project, which requires network knowledge, soldering and engineering skills. The display can rock to four different shows, each with its own theme. There’s a Christmas Vacation night, Disney Night, voiceover live show and a ’70s night that lasts between 20 to 25 minutes.

This project grew out of, like many very recent traditions, out of the pandemic. The singing trees came first, the rest organically grew from there. When it comes to his light show, Phillips is an artist and the lights are his canvas. Each year since then he’s added more to the display, and after his retirement from the WVU Foundation this year, Phillips went all out.

Next year, Phillips plans to make one more addition to make the spectacle even bigger.

“It’s pretty cool to see, the neighbors drive by while I’m out there, they’re all thanking me and saying how nice it is to see the lights,” Phillips said. “It’s very rewarding.”

Mark and Deborah Blankenship agree. They’re Phillips’ neighbors. Paraphrasing Jodie Foster from the 1997 film “Contact,” they should have sent a poet.

“Unspeakable. I mean, your words can’t describe it, It’s unbelievable.” Blankenship said. “We live straight across the street. So we get more enjoyment than the rest of the humans. Some of them just drive by. They don’t actually stop. Some stop. But they don’t realize it’s an entire show.”

Blankenship said the lightshow lifts the spirits of anyone who comes by to watch. In that way, the lights serve as more than just a spectacle. As solar light fades and temperatures drop, winter malaise sets in. However, holiday decorations, such as light shows, help bring warmth to the darkness rather than leaving it vicious and foreboding.

Marjie Phillips, Mike’s wife, said they aren’t taking any donations this year but next year are considering collecting some for charity. Phillips said the light costs aren’t massive, so any collected money won’t have to go toward paying the light bill.

This weekend, Phillips will be running the ’70s show all throughout, with shows starting at 6, 7 and 8 p.m.

“I think it’s wonderful, it’s just so nice,” Terri Price, one of his neighbors, said. “He’s put a lot of work into it.”

Price saw Phillips setting up the lightshow, and one night on a drive home finally saw part of the finished project. On Friday night, she and her daughter who is in from the University of Vermont stopped by to watch the show while walking their dog.

“It’s just so unique, it’s so fun.”

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com