As five-year-old Lucas Sanders took in the overwhelming Hanukkah lighting display at the house of Glencoe’s Gary Hazan, he offered a message mixed with amazement and astonishment.
“Your house is awesome,” Lucas exclaimed. “It’s absolutely incredible.”
With the first night of Hanukkah arriving Dec. 18, Hazan has once again constructed a massive showcase for the Festival of Lights with oversized symbols of dreidels and menorahs at his approximate 5,000 square foot house.
But he doesn’t stop at traditional symbols. There are representations of bears, dinosaurs and mensches (a person of honor and integrity) highlighting the effort that he says takes about 50 to 60 hours to complete and install starting in October, requiring only a little bit of assistance for the elevated lights.
This is his fourth year of Hazan’s undertaking that started when his daughter noticed many Christmas lights in the area and asked her father why they couldn’t they do something similar.
Hazan said they could and the decorations started with about 500 lights and one laser. Over the years, the displays have grown, filling up most of the lawn at the house now with roughly 20,000 lights and over a dozen inflatables and lasers, all powered with LED technology.
Hazan said he served doughnuts and hot chocolate to about 100 people on Dec. 4 at a party dedicating this year’s effort, along the lines of Clark Griswold in the Christmas Vacation movie series.
The enormity of the display attracts the curious, some driving by, others getting out of their car to stop and gawk.
“If I am outside, people will always stop and talk to me, ask questions and say thank you for doing this,” Hazan said. “That’s what makes it so much fun.”
The group of admirers one night was the Sanders family as mom Lisa, a Glencoe South School Spanish teacher, bringing her Lucas and daughter, Ella, 8 1/2.
“I’ve heard about and I see it on Facebook and I had to bring my kids to come and see it,” Lisa Sanders said. “We’re grateful that there is a place we can go that celebrates all of the holidays of the season.”
Amid the recent reports of anti-Semitism actions and words, Hazan emphasizes he is not making a declaration with the display.
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“It’s not a statement against anti-Semitism, it is a statement about the enjoyment of Hanukkah,” he said. “I love lights and I love Hanukkah and my kids love it and I made it for them and everyone who wants to come by and enjoy it.”
Among those liking the display is Hazan’s neighbor Nader Elrashidy, who moved in during the past year and didn’t think the lights were too much.
“It’s super fun and very festive,” he said. “It is a great time of the year to be celebrating the beauty of it.”
Elrashidy, a Muslim who grew up in Deerfield, saw the lights as a shared community experience.
“It’s fun to appreciate everyone’s celebrations,” he said. “And learn more about each other and enjoy it together.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.