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Ten finalists were selected from all entries, and visitors to Ohio Edison’s Facebook page voted to select the winners. Roland received 860 out of 2,200 total votes to win the grand prize.
Decorating his home has been a family tradition for Roland since 1994.
This year’s display included more than 30,000 LED lights synchronized to 22 Christmas songs that could be heard from spectators’ car radios.
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In all, it takes roughly 50 to 60 volunteers to assemble Roland’s lighting display.
Roland and his team of family, friends and volunteers start hanging lights after Halloween and finish in time for Thanksgiving.
“Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and people sharing their tradition of seeing our lights every year makes it worth all the work,” Roland said.
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When Roland receives the $250 gift car for winning the grand prize, he plans to donate it.
“To me, it is the right thing to do,” Roland said. “With so much negativity going on, I wanted to do something that will give the people of Springfield hope.”
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This year, Roland partnered with the Salvation Army, where in addition to enjoying a wonderful light show, they could donate a toy to the Toys for Tots program. In all, three barrels of toys were collected.
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