Ho ho ho! This Morris Township lawn is Christmas City

Wendy Bongo and Angel Garcia at the entrance to their Christmas extravaganza in Morris Township. Photo by Michael Leavy
Wendy Bongo and Angel Garcia at the entrance to their Christmas extravaganza in Morris Township. Photo by Michael Leavy
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Video of 19 Bongo Drive:

 

By Michael Leavy

Santa will have no problem finding the Greater Morristown area this week, thanks in part to Wendy Bongo of 19 Bell Drive in Morris Township.

As she’s done for the last decade, Bongo and her friend and landscaper, Angel Garcia of G and G Landscaping, have produced a Christmas wonderland in her front yard that gets bigger and brighter every year.

Bongo and a neighbor started decorating their houses at about the same time.

“We started out small and then it just grew,” said the mother of three. The neighbor scaled back when her kids grew up.

Bongo and Garcia kept going. Two years ago their creation was named Morris County’s Best Light Show in a Star-Ledger contest.

By now, neighbors are used to the display and the attention it gets this time of year.

“I’m known as the Christmas Lady, we’re known as the holiday house,” says Bongo. “Everyone sort of ends up down here” to look. “I get a lot of revisits,” she added.

Photos by Michael Leavy and Kevin Coughlin. Please click icon below for captions.

Garcia said it takes about 40 hours to complete the displays. Usually, he has a helper and Bongo assists, but this year it was mostly him and Bongo completing the work. It starts after Thanksgiving and can take up to two weeks to finish, depending on the weather.

The entire front yard has lighted decorations, and people can walk through to see the different scenes. Bongo has a donation bucket for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and she matches what she collects. The presentation changes every year and more pieces are added.

And the decorations aren’t just lighted figures and inflatables. (Although there are plenty of those, including Santa’s inflatable outhouse.)

“We do very landscaped scenes and a lot of detailed work,” Bongo said. The yard features a winter scene with cellophane and fake snow creating skiing slopes and streams. “It’s a lot more intricate work than just putting stuff on the lawn.”

Santa is ready for the big night, on Bell Drive in Morris Township. Photo by Michael Leavy
Santa is ready for the big night, on Bell Drive in Morris Township. Photo by Michael Leavy

A winter wonderland does not come cheap, as all these lights need electricity, which they draw from more than 200 wires.

“It quadruples,” Bongo said of her electric bill. “Normally we put timers on, but this year, we were so delayed with the weather, I didn’t have time.”

Bongo said she still hopes to get those timers installed.

Weather permitting, the Christmas display will stay lit until January. Bongo encourages visitors to come see it and donate if they can.

If only Thomas Edison could see this... the Bongo home in Morris Township, Christmas 2014. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
If only Thomas Edison could see this… the Bongo home in Morris Township, Christmas 2014. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

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