Plainfield holiday lights display glows bright

PLAINFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- On the edge of one Plainfield neighborhood, something's glowing bright. It's Jerry Bauer's holiday lights display, stretching across his lawn and into the sky.

Childhood favorites, trains chugging along and a candy cane alley cover his front yard; there are also Santas scattered throughout.

Bauer has projections too, covering three sides of his house all the way up.

At the center of his displays, as always, sits the classic nativity scene.

"My bill goes up probably $400-500 a month," said Bauer without batting an eye.

This is an electrically pricey hobby, but for Bauer it's a worthwhile one as well.

"The smile on the kid's face when you see them staring out the window, that's priceless," he added.

Bauer started decorating his house more than two decades ago. He says there are now 20,000-30,000 individual light bulbs shining over his home.

So many, that when people are decorating for Halloween, he's already gearing up for Christmas.

"It's a lot. It takes me at least 6 weeks by myself to do," said Bauer, adding that he's far from finished.

"I've got enough room for another probably 40,000-50,000 lights yet," he declared.

We'll see if Jerry Bauer has a big enough display this year to win bragging rights in The Great Chicago Light Fight.

Think you have the best holiday decorations around? To enter, just shoot a video of your lights display and share it on our ABC 7 Chicago Facebook page. Look for The Great Chicago Light Fight post and upload your video in the comments section. Only videos, no photos will be accepted and they have to be posted on Facebook. We will accept entries until 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 14. We will then narrow down the selections and you'll be able to vote for your favorite.

The winner will be announced on ABC 7 News This Morning on Friday, December 22. Good luck!