Nothing brightens dreary December days in Chicago quite like the festive twinkling of holiday lights.
For Brett Foy, those lights are a labor of love, and one he’s using to give back to his community. His house at 969 Ekman Drive in Batavia is dressed up with lights for the holiday season and set to music, from holiday classics to newly released artist compilations. The Batavia home has approximately 400 props and more than 70,000 total lights. The set-up process starts around mid-August, but the work of connecting the music to dancing lights is year-round.
“The show is a lot of work to set up and I want to improve on it every year,” Foy says. “I get to see how the lights and music bring joy to the people who watch the show and sing along. There are times when I can hear van loads of kids screaming about the Grinch or Santa Claus on the screen and that is what this is all about. I get a lot of stories of how my lights brighten their holiday or how their children get so excited over watching the Grinch appear among the dancing lights.”
Foy has partnered with the Batavia Mothers Club Foundation, collecting donations during his shows to benefit the organization.
“While evaluating organizations that I could help with fundraising, I was looking for something local with a broad impact,” Foy says. “I really like how BMCF provides financial grants based on need-based submissions and that they help an assortment of organizations as well as helping people like school teachers who pay for supplies out of their own pockets. There was no better way to make sure that anything I did to help would be so broadly distributed to so many good causes.”
Foy’s lights have been selected as a finalist in ABC7’s Great Chicago Light Fight 2022. Foy hopes that the light contest not only brings people joy to those who see his light display, but also brings light to the BMCF cause.
Vote for the light shows in the contest at ABC7. (Foy’s show is listed as number 3 on the form.)
To experience Foy’s show virtually, watch it on YouTube.
See all the finalists in action here:
Looking to check out more holiday light displays around Chicago?
- 2022 Best Christmas Lights in Chicagoland (with Driving Routes!) from Kidlist
- Where to See the Holiday Lights Around Chicago
- Hanukkah Takeover at Glencoe Home Is a Holiday Must-See
