Every time a visitor to Deacon Dave Rezendes’ Christmas light display asks about the faith or his role as a Catholic deacon, he gives them an index card, asks them to write down their contact information, and promises them that he will give them a call to chat after the holiday.
Deacon Dave calls dozens of people in January and meets hundreds more in the crowds of people who travel to Livermore, California, to visit his display of more than 900,000 lights every Christmas season.
The display, which has a different theme every year and is built by a team of dedicated volunteers, is set up on his 1-acre property, affectionately named Casa Del Pomba, or House of the Dove, in honor of the Holy Spirit.
“When I was ordained in 1982, I dedicated my home to the Holy Spirit,” Deacon Dave told Our Sunday Visitor. “One of the symbols is the dove. So there’s a dove in every room of the house, either in art, painted, or ceramic, and there’s hundreds of doves of different varieties spread throughout the display.”
Winning awards and souls
The Holy Spirit has been at work through Deacon Dave’s Christmas light display since he started it more than 40 years ago. He says he’s had countless encounters with people who told him that they want to return to Church or asked deeper questions about the faith.
“It’s surprising how many people over the years have come up to me and said, ‘Deacon, I’ve been away from the Church for quite some time, you know, and I was thinking of coming back and this seems like a sign.’ I always say, ‘I’ll call you after Christmas and we’ll talk,'” Deacon Dave said. “Over the years, quite a few people have returned to the faith.”
Deacon Dave’s Christmas display is not just winning souls; it’s also winning competitions. His house recently took the top prize on ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” in which houses across the country compete for the best Christmas light display.
“ABC has been after me for several years to be a competitor. And I’ve always said no, because this isn’t about competition; it’s about spreading holiday joy,” Deacon Dave said. “But I gave in because I hope seeing my display encourages people to decorate the front of [their] home to celebrate the birth of Christ again and make this season special, because we have been losing that as a culture.”
The prize has been a long time coming. Deacon Dave started his Christmas light display in 1982, the year he was ordained to the permanent diaconate. Since then, he has expanded the scene by constructing dioramas, building facades and creating an artificial creek and waterfall.
All covered with thousands of lights, of course.
“I hired one teenager to help me set them up in 1982. We built a miniature village, and I had a whopping 2,000 lights,” Deacon Dave said. “I thought that was a lot then, whereas this year, we’re at 902,127 lights.”
A team competition
More lights means more volunteers.
This year, Deacon Dave has more than 20 volunteers helping him construct sets, string lights and manage the large crowds. One neighbor, Holly Loberg, has been volunteering for more than 20 years. She first became involved when her two kids were asked to help decorate.
Even though her kids now have children of their own, Holly returns year after year to help run what she calls a truly unique display.
“Nothing is computerized; nothing is choreographed. It’s very special. We do these little vignettes, and there’s always a story,” Loberg told Our Sunday Visitor. “In each of the 41 years, it’s been a different theme every year. The lights don’t move or dance to music. They just sparkle, but it leaves you with this unexplainable feeling; it just inspires you.”
A tight community has developed around the project. Visitors return year after year, bringing their kids to what has become a Christmas tradition within the local community.
“It’s a generational display; people who brought their children now bring their grandchildren,” Loberg said. “It’s coming together as a family. It’s coming together as a community. … We love to share this with the community, and you see the joy in the people that come visit.”
Even the months of preparation have turned into a communal effort. Starting in July, a group of volunteers gather every week to map out, build and light the annual display.
Volunteer Rod Hollister, who is Protestant, has been helping Deacon Dave for years. Through the display, he has found a lasting community of friends.
“The camaraderie during the building phase has been a lot of fun,” Hollister told Our Sunday Visitor. “It changed over the years, but there’s always a core group that is pretty close.”
This year, Hollister realized just how much Deacon Dave and the community loved him after his daughter passed away unexpectedly.
“We lost her daughter in the middle of the construction phase, and Deacon Dave has been very supportive,” Hollister shared. “Deacon shut down the construction, and the whole crew came to the service.”
“My daughter, when she was a teenager, used to come down and help volunteer, to help with some of the construction and decorations,” he added. “So Deacon got to see her grow up, and a lot of the crew did too.”
Hollister’s daughter left behind two small children. Deacon Dave invited them to partake in this year’s opening ceremony as a way to remember their mother.
A community staple
Opening night has become a townwide affair, with the mayor and the police chief often in attendance.
“When we open the display, the city closes a large portion of the street in front of the property, and people gather in front of the darkened house waiting for the beautiful candlelight procession to come down Hillcrest Avenue,” Deacon Dave said.
The choir from St. Michael’s Parish, where Deacon Dave serves, sings in the procession, and other parishioners contribute to the light display every year. To create this year’s theme, “The World Celebrates Christmas,” Deacon Dave asked members of the parish’s Hispanic, Filipino and African communities to build dioramas for the display.
Deacon Dave doesn’t charge visitors, but he does collect donations for Santa’s Secret Service, a parish ministry that gives gifts to veterans, the homebound and the poor during the Christmas season.
And it’s not just through monetary donations that Deacon Dave is spreading holiday cheer. Every day, Deacon and his volunteers meet visitors who tell them that they arrived sad and burdened by various troubles, but walking through the display brought them joy and wonder.
“Last year, there were these two ladies that came through, and they said, ‘We’re not religious, and we have both been experiencing a lot of sadness, but there’s something here we don’t get. There’s a special feeling of God’s presence under these lights,'” Deacon Dave shared. “I said, ‘Well, you know, the wise men did follow the star. Maybe this is your star.'”
