Vallejo family’s yearly Christmas display featured on TV show

The pressure’s off, and the secret is out — Bob and Linda Taylor’s Christmas display, 817 Glen Cove Road, Vallejo, didn’t win a trophy in ABC’s “Christmas Lights Fight” episode that aired Monday night.

The couple has known since before Thanksgiving they wouldn’t get the decorative bulb-shaped trophy or the winning $50,000 check. But they were sworn to keep that knowledge to themselves until after the episode aired.

The prize went to the Darren Huffty family of Jacksonville, Fla., whose yard display featured an 18-foot pixilated Christmas tree, a robotic snowman and a manger scene, plus synchronized lights, music and singing.

Another entry, by Jerry Ludy’s family of Columbus, Ga., had lights on wire frames made by Ludy, his son and grandson, who created animated lit sequences of Santa tossing presents into a chimney and bouncing them off a trampoline into a neighbor’s chimney.

The fourth competitor, a woman identified only as Liz, of Dallas, Texas, said she singlehandedly decorated her entire yard, including Santa and his reindeer rising above the treetops.

Her home had thousands of lights — but just as the judge, Michael Moloney, stepped forward to get a closer look, the entire array went dark and a fire ignited in the back. Liz’s segment ended with firefighters arriving, though by then the flames had gone out.

Firefighters also were part of the Taylors’ segment — only they were volunteers who helped the family erect the display and drove one of the Vallejo fire engines up to the house to drop off Santa Claus and his wife.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be making their last appearances at the Taylors’ home Friday and Saturday; Santa will arrive at 6 p.m. Saturday in the fire truck for the last time before his worldwide delivery tour Christmas Eve.

Taylor’s favorite part of his display, the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round, formerly belonged to the fire department —  part of Vallejo history, he said of the 50-year-old items.

The Taylors get no prize other than a window-sized poster they’ve had laminated, proclaiming “The Taylor Family — 2014 Competitors” in the second season of ABC’s televised contest.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Bob said. “We’re proud to be able to represent Vallejo in a national television show. We feel it’s a big feather in our hat.”

A clip from the show has been posted online, and Taylor said it’s already gotten 46 million viewings.

“We’ve had nonstop phone calls,” he said. “It’s been crazy.”