Toronto Christmas Lights Displays

Lots of people put up Christmas decorations, but some people go all out:

-At 188 Brock in Parkdale, Mike and Giustina D'Elia festoon their home with a lavish display that includes snowmen, candy canes, reindeer, bells, bears, angels, nutcrackers, a gingerbread man, a teddy bear, a Christmas tree, a Nativity scene, swans, flamingoes and a penguin.

-At 473 Clinton, Albino Carreira has used over 200,000 screw and wooden discs, along with thousands of tiny plastic toys, to decorate his home. At Christmas, he adds about 5,000 lights to celebrate the season.

-Further afield, brothers Martin and Andrew Lindsay at 4 Rosea Court in Markham have raised over $20,000 for charity with their annual Lindsay Lights display. It consists of over 70,000 lights, and draws as much as 30,000 watts of power. (You may be relieved to know that the Lindsays are saving more than 14Kw since last year, because they've started switching to LEDs.) The house is wired to run a four-minute show either to a voiceover or to this year's theme song: "Wizards In Winter" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (via radio at 104.9 FM). The Lindsays donate the money raised each year to local charities that benefit children and animals, like Sick Kids Hospital and the Humane Society.

-Meanwhile, in Burlington, Doug Musson masterminds the Musson family display at 3360 Spruce Avenue in Burlington, where lights go on daily from 6 to 11 p.m. until December 31. The Mussons' display includes dozens of objects and figures made of lights, including a motorcycle in memory of a departed family member. This year, if you see a path of white lights down the left side of the house, follow it to a surprise in the backyard. (It will only be lit when the family is at home.) Donations made online or via ther mailbox will go towards electricity costs; any leftover will be donated to the Canadian Crohns Society.

And if you just walk to tour a neighbourhood that's guaranteed to be lit up, my best suggestions are:

-The little postwar cottages around Cosburn between Woodbine and Coxwell, which still look like Christmas in the '50s

-The highrise towers on Jameson just off King Street

I want to hear about more amazing light displays around the GTA, so please post all details via the comments! (I'm especially interested in addresses and details for several places I've been hearing about: one near Willowbank and Underwood in Mississauga and several around Scarborough, including Centennial Boulevard and the Bluffs neighbourhood.)