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Help, Police knocking on my door


need lights

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Tonight the traffic was so bad, down my street, all the way down a main street and then to another main street that the police sent cruisers to block my street and move the traffic. Some found another way to our house from the back roads. I was running a short show, five songs with the most popular playing every third song. I shortened it to three songs and it didn't help. The cruiser left after the traffic was cleared, but in five minutes the traffic was back and so was the cruiser. then the doorbell rang. Officer told me we had a serious traffic problem and was asking questions about the show. Wanted to know if I had a permit, I told him no because it was just my display. I told him I would shorten it to two songs, which I did. it helped, but took a long time before the cars were down to just my street(about 9:45p). He told me to call the police Sgt. in the morning. I never had traffic like this before. What would I say? Should I be concerned? What are some solutions you have used? my charity is doing well this year(for transplant patients). Any advice/suggestions Greatly appreciated!

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I don't have any experience with that much traffic so no advice to give.

Just wanted to say good luck with it and congratulations on impressing everyone.

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You may consider going to a single song during the busy times. Perhaps even a voice over between that song that says something to the effect of, "due to high traffic we are only running one song this evening. Please pull over to the side of the road. If cars are stopped in the road, we will be forced to shut down the show."

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Not a bad idea, just have to get the voice over made quickly. I could reach out the Demented Elf tomorrow. Maybe if I just tell the police that they would be happy.

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My thought would be, remind the Police that they work for the community.

It would be more helpful if they would make themselves seen in a positive manor and help direct traffic through your show and calm the few road road raging neighbors.

 

You're doing a good thing and don't let the police Sargent push you around.

If you can afford to put on a light show, then I guarantee you are paying enough in taxes.

 

Maybe ask them to place some cruisers in strategic locations to help flow traffic.

 

I guess I am lucky.

Everyone has been extremely civil with the amazing amounts of traffic.

I have been outside this year and everyone is enjoying the show.

Tonight I ran a show at 2300 just because people kept coming.

I met a lot of people tonight. Quite a few people got out of their cars and hung out.

My neighbors don't care about the noise so all is good... 

I wish it were ten degrees warmer.

 

Not to mention, I often have deputy's present. I know the Sheriff and he assures me that his staff will help out.

So far it has not been needed.

Most people move on when the place gets too backed up. 

Edited by MikeERWNC
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We had a few new lights added tonight as well, unfortunatley they were blue! Seems that some neighbors on the main street feeding mine were complaing of blocked driveways. I spoke with the officer and explained that the show included a voiceover about blocking drives and such and told him what station to tune to. He was cool about the whole thing. We shortend the show last week due to overwhelming traffic. This is year 7 for us and never had any problems before. I blame social media for the extra attention. Our display was fairly well known as we have been featured in the Birmingham News, local news, and RollTide.com (the fight song is pretty popular). Facebook has a community forum that has really gotten lots of hits about the few local lights and I am pretty sure that is where the real problem lies. We do enjoy giving the community a little Christmas joy but this year it has turned into lots of work with traffic control. The real kicker is my subdivision is small with only one entrance/exit and I live on the last road with a cul-de-sac so all traffic watches the show and has to go back out the same way. I estimate we have had several nights with 300+ visitors and I expect things to be really wild through Christmas Eve. I bought 8 buckets of candycanes from Sam's and only have 1 1/2 left! We are going to save those for Dec 24. A note to the new guys out there, be careful what you wish for. :)

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This is year seven for us and we're also fairly well known.  With the exception of a call-in radio blurb and a local college TV interview, I've done no promoting this year other than keeping my website and FB page current.  Our traffic has been moderate to heavy on most nights and just short of bonkers Friday and Sat.  It's nice to be flattered and to hear people say complimentary things all evening, but I definitely don't want it any busier.  We've got an excellent setup with easy access from both directions and I shortened the rotation to six songs and three announcements.  We still had people waiting over an hour.  That's nuts.  And it's going to be like that all the way through next weekend.  Yes, be VERY careful what you wish for.

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The problem for me isn't so much cars not pulling over, but the shear volume of traffic backing into the main roads. They don't want cars pulled over on the main roads. I do have a much longer street distance on the other side, if cars could come down a nearby side street to enter onto our street from the back end. That would require several signs, people or officers rerouting traffic and would involve a lot more driveways potentially being blocked. Last year no problem even close to this, we were thrilled if we hit 100 cars or so in one night. The count has to be over 500/night on weekend. Facebook definitely is to blame, everyone takes pics of their kids and videos then post it. I don't know what the solution will be. I don't know what I will say to the the Police Sgt, other than I didn't anticipate so much traffic. My wife had a double lung transplant, recently started dialysis and requires my assistance periodically so I can't be outside all night (Monday I won't even be home because she has a minor operation scheduled and we will not be home until at least 8p). What do I need to do to ensure they don't try to shut us down? I could try a one song show, but I dont think that would be enough based on yesterdays numbers. Maybe I can convince them to make my street a one way and route all traffic around a block to avoid traffic on the main roads. If so, there could potentially be complaints from all residents involved with traffic in front of their homes and driveways. I am pretty stressed out now. Will traffic be similar to yesterday and Friday right through Christmas in everyone's experience? What about Christmas Eve (big rain and wind storm forecast for my area) or weekend after Christmas, traffic any lighter? Thanks

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No press, no news, and then we post this on our website and Facebook...

"Alright, this is usually posted as a pre-season reminder for the noobs and the veterans alike BUT since people seem to be spreading the word about the lights we beg, beg, beg that you PLEASE, PLEASE READ!!! :D

So, even though we now have a Facebooks page we would like to ask something that's a little backwards from most every other page on here... please, please, PLEASE DO NOT SHARE US!!!

Those that have followed the display over the years know why... and now I'll explain it to the newest people here. Our location stinks! Well, not really but as far as being able to park somewhere and watch the lights it does. We can comfortably have four cars in our driveway watching the lights but the road doesn't lend itself very well to "parking".

Between the ditches, woodchucks flying over the hill doing way more that the suggested 35MPH(yes, that's actually posted on those nice roadside signs!), and the fact that we get weather most of Broome County doesn't... sometimes it's almost as much work trying to stop to watch the lights as it is to put them all up! ;)

Over the years we have seen people do the dumbest things in order to watch the lights. Parking in the middle of the road with lights off ranks right up there! Please use common sense! If the driveway is full, the uphill side of the road across from the house seems like the best place to get vehicles close to being off the road. The ditch is there, but there is actually a partial shoulder you can use.

Weekday nights seem to be the slowest while weekends seem to pick right up. And speaking of picking up... the few days before Christmas are usually insane! We understand why but we also don't? ;) After Christmas it dies right off which becomes the perfect time for getting cozy with the lights(some cars have gotten too cozy... just remember you are on multiple security cameras being recorded when you are in the driveway!). ;)

So, there you have it. DON'T SHARE US! Keep this whole thing a little secret between us... and you. Watch the lights if you can do it safely. Don't do anything that would jeopardize you, your family, our family, or those woodchucks(for they know not that they are woodchucks). :D

And remember the reason for the season! God Bless!"

This year we have politely asked people who have publicly shared our website and Facebook page to take them down and most have complied.

We know we can't catch all of them but we try the best we can. We really try to stress to people that we do the show for the locals and don't need extra outsider traffic. Our egos are small so having thousands of "likes" is meaningless. The only reason we do the Facebooks is for updates. It's neat having such a real-time avenue to broadcast changes in scheduling, song rotations, and traffic.

Good luck figuring out the balance! Every location is different so just try everything you can think of and hopefully something works.

BTW, we also go down to one or maybe two songs when it's crazy busy. We found that one song over and over and over without any announcement works wonders for getting things moving. Try to pick a short, flashy, upbeat song that shows off all your lights. People seem fulfilled then and move on. Again, good luck!

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Forgot to add... you also do not need the lights on every night. Once, maybe twice a season I will not put the lights on because I am either busy or mentally not up to it. :) Know your limits and do the best you can. Don't be a slave to the lights! If you are scared about tonight, post on the ol' Facebooks that you have family matters to attend to tonight so there will not be any lights. Then if you miss the lights at 7 or 8 just put them on. No need to update Facebook either.

Again, good luck!

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Try to pick a short, flashy, upbeat song that shows off all your lights. People seem fulfilled then and move on. Again, good luck!

 

Need lights,

 

I think Jeff's idea above maybe a great solution, have just one song ready to play over & over.  Most will leave right away. Or set up a show that only plays one song and then just does an animation sequence with just some lights on for 5 min.  so people move on.

 I think the voice over would be great as well that Don had mentioned.  Kevin at Demented Elf is great at turning over within a couple of days. Or in a worst case you can try Fiverr.com for a quick voice over but I highly suggest Kevin first, he helped me out quickly this year with traffic & neighbor voice overs this year as well.  I find that there are many cars coming every night to watch the lights, typically the families with younger ones that are here just after dinnertime so maybe another voice over that tells them the back roads to access the show?  Maybe it will ease enough congestion to get the police out of the picture!  BTW, nice to hear from you again.  Not too many fellow Massachusetts light hobbyist around  here!

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 I find that there are many cars coming every night to watch the lights, typically the families with younger ones that are here just after dinnertime so maybe another voice over that tells them the back roads to access the show?  Maybe it will ease enough congestion to get the police out of the picture! 

 

I meant to say many of the SAME cars coming every night...

 

Goodluck!

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We have a great location and plenty of room as many park down the road up to 1/4 mile away and walk up to the display. Around the display we can hold may 45 cars but most the time they get out the cars and stand in the ditch to watch. WE have 17 sequences with 2 voice overs and we let it play one after another. On average we have around 3000 a night stop and watch. On the weekend I lose count when it starts to get packed around here. I never extend the show pass its regular scheduled time. I only use Facebook but it will always get to the newpapers and media.  Happy Lighting !!!!

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I don't advertise. My wife, OTOH did. Normally I try to do a planned sequence of 4 - 5 songs with a 10 minute or so break between. Traffic this year has been greater than years past but it could be due to I completely overhauled my display and LED lights are far brighter than incandescent ones.

 

We'll see how things progress in years to come.

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Well, the police Sgt. was not in today, he is in tomorrow. I called a friend who called him and then I was told not to worry about anything, for now. The police were rude last night in my opinion, turned everyone away instead of directing them to go around the block to the other end of the street. To avoid that again tonight I did two things. First, I emailed The Demented Elf late last night with my situation and he sent me a voiceover this morning! Incredible service, he really understands! I sequenced it to some lights, created a two song show with it and used that as our show tonight. Second, since the traffic went all the way up my street within fifteen minutes after start time, I froze at the corner of my street and asked people to go around the block to enter from the other end of the street. I like the atmosphere better in front of our display, but it was all worth it because zero police! There was one cruiser who drove by early(about 10 minutes after start time), but just kept driving. So another good night here and we will see what happens next. Will keep you posted. Tomorrow could be a problem if there is any traffic as I will not be around until late (at least a couple hours after the show starts). I am letting the two song show run and keeping my fingers crossed that no police ruin it. I wish I could've anticipated this year's traffic because I would have had this planned out somehow.

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Last year after being the Great Christmas Light Fight our traffic was crazy, its not just crazy on Fri and Sat night. But that being said, I had the town allow me to make my street one way, with detour signs. they didn't want traffic backing up to a main road. But the kicker is that the one way street is a non-enforceable one way street. so if someone goes the wrong way, IE my neighbors and myself, at least we aren't breaking any laws. its really helped with traffic flow and my neighbors like it.

good luck

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I share your pain "Need Lights" -

 

I have had the pleasure of seeing the police in action, on more than one occasion when traffic gets unbearable.  For those that think you just don't run your lights - problem solved, Nope! It can and does get worse.  Now you have car upon cars, filled with people "circling" like vultures (just in case you might turn them on) and some goons just park and sit for hours.  It can become quite a mess, pretty quickly, with or without your intervention.  Social Media is just as bad, as it can be good.  - Don't expect anyone to read more than the first sentence of your post though.

 

Definitely use the Police as friends and advocates.  Make contact with them on a regular basis and let them know what is happening and what you are trying to do to control the situation.  Limiting song selection is the unfortunate success of the Christmas display, but is necessary to keep traffic "flowing".  The Sgt will have  good ideas on what to do or what can be done - other than shutting down your lights.

 

Here is what I have done so far  - that works well until I go "outside" of the rules.

1: Limit song selection to 4 songs for the evening - When I break this rule, there are problems.

2: Make good use of the Police departments tools - I have them put up "No Parking" signs on one side of the street to keep one side of the street clear. Its a temporary order - but works fairly well with the exception that you will still have those that either can't read or don't care.

3: Keep communications with the Police and community clear and open - Be outspoken on the subject of Christmas displays and the good that comes from it.  No political official will touch the "Freedom of Religious Celebration" with a 39-1/2 ft pole.  It is political suicide.

4: Promote other local displays in your area to help subdue your traffic "pile-on"  Encourage your audience, thru social media, to visit other areas as well -

 

Here is what doesnt work:

1: Those "Bumpers" you have in your playlist.  You can put it between every song you run - While you find it amusing and listen intently, your audience doesnt hear a word or thinks it applies to the other cars.

2: Do nothing at all - Let the police handle it.

 

Mike

CanfieldChristmasLights

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This is one of the reasons like George I don't want to be on the Stupid Light fight show.   I don't need the headache of traffic blocking the roads, being sued like Holdman by the music group , the town shutting you down and I could go on and on.   

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