After two years in Little Elm, Chris and Jennie Fuller had never decorated the outside of their home for the holidays.
“This is a first go, so we went from zero to 100,” Chris Fuller said.
This year, their home is the talk of Little Elm. The Fullers have spent the last year and $5,000 to decorate their home and provide a custom light and music show for the community. All they ask of admirers is a donation to the North Texas Food Bank, a nonprofit charity that gathers food and provides it for free to needy residents.
The idea came from their 5-year-old daughter Alexis. Last year, she advised her parents that they needed to decorate the yard for Halloween.
“She said all the other kids are doing this kind of stuff,” Chris Fuller said with a laugh.
It got him thinking. Father and daughter started looking at YouTube clips of families who had done similar light shows.
“I’m one of those that either goes all out or not at all,” he said. “She loves it. She tells all her friends our house is the one that’s on YouTube now. It’s the cool house on the cul-de-sac.”
He joked that all of his neighbors told him he needs to raise money for the family’s candy bills because so many trick-or-treaters will be drawn to the home.
“Jennie is probably sick of hearing the song selections, but she loves it and socializing with the neighbors,” Chris Fuller said. “We’ve got the best neighbors, hands down, because they put up with this.”
He said he is expecting a large turnout on Halloween.
Jennie Fuller said she hopes visitors will be generous with donations of money or canned goods.
She is the brains behind the call to the charity. She said that because she is a mother, she has a passion for helping children. The food bank reports that one out of every four North Texas children is “food insecure.” After reading that statistic, she knew she had to help feed the children.
Her goal is to receive more than $1,000 and more than 100 pounds of canned goods or other nonperishable food. The Fullers are accepting the food donations during their light shows, but said the food bank prefers cash donations because it can turn one dollar into three dollars’ worth of food.
“We have an online food drive as well,” Chris Fuller said. “It’s like you’re pushing a cart down a shopping lane.”
He said the show features nine songs and runs about 25 minutes.
“It’s all in good fun,” he said. “I don’t like seeing people with just a few little [decorations]. It’s like, man, go all out or go home.”
He said he also is planning a Christmas show that will run through December. It won’t be as elaborate as the Halloween show, which is meant for a live audience. Instead, it will appeal to people driving by the home. Music will play through a FM transmitter and a sign will tell everyone the radio frequency.
Chris Fuller said he doesn’t know what he will do next year to beat this show, short of adding songs and pyrotechnics.
“In all honesty, I think next year the only thing we will add is a couple more prop-style things,” he said.
The Fullers said some neighbors want to incorporate their houses into the light show.
“I said, ‘Absolutely, you guys buy all the stuff and I’ll handle the programming of it.’ We’ll see if they come through with that, but I think that next year that would be awesome to have the whole cul-de-sac do that.”
Aurora Haag, the Fullers’ neighbor directly across the street, said she will put the money into it.
“We don’t have anybody down this street ever for Halloween,” Haag said. “The street is always really dark and it’s always disappointing because we just leave candy out and nobody ever takes any. So we’re really excited this year to see what it’s going to be.”
Haag said her favorite part about the light show is how much the kids enjoy it.
For the final kicker, Chris Fuller has rented a professional-grade Mickey Mouse costume and plans to wear it for the first show Halloween night.
“I just want to do it because I love the kids,” he said. “The show will cap off with a peppy dance beat and with the world’s most famous cartoon mouse making a live guest appearance to greet the kiddos.”
IF YOU GO
What: Fuller Family Halloween Show
When: 8 p.m. Friday; 7:30, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Oct. 31. In case of inclement weather, the Halloween show will be Saturday at the listed times.
Where: 2353 Crestridge Drive in Little Elm
Cost: Free, but donations to the North Texas Food Bank are requested.
