(WSB photo from the show’s first night of this past holiday season, November 26, 2011)
The music-synched Helmstetler Family Christmas Lights Spectacular is dark till next November, but mastermind Jim Winder has a postscript – a final report on the donations made by visitors/fans:

Thank You West Seattle for another great Season of Giving

TOTAL GIVING FOR 2011!! $2960.86

$1200 for the Dr. Ed Kingston Memorial Fund
$865.43 for Northwest Parkinson Foundation
$895.43 for the West Seattle Food Bank

PLUS
1433 lbs of food

If you just can’t wait till next holiday season – there’s already a countdown calendar on the show’s official site!

Merry Christmas! We’re suddenly running out of holiday time to show you the great displays people have sent tips about, so this time around we have three, all in the greater Admiral area – two from tips, one that we spotted near a tipped location. Above, the red-and-green-lit skyline is in the yard that every Halloween is transformed into the stage for the amazing animatronics of Skeleton Theatre, 36th/Hanford (thanks to the person who texted us about it today). Not even a full block south, we found this home, where the lights (adorning its side as well as its front) are even grander than our photo suggests:

And then a mile west, we checked out a cute sight – a candy cane in lights, on and in a tree in the 2700 block of 48th SW:

All three are now added to this year’s WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map.

Whimsical is the word that came to mind when we checked these out, on the recommendation of Thad – so much, we needed to take photos from two angles.

The house is on the west side of 32nd SW, south of SW Cloverdale – and that stretch of 32nd has several other nice displays. We’ve of course added it to the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map. Still a few more to check out before Christmas!

It’s been four years (and one day) since we previously featured this display – the Santa-hat tree at 36th/Roxbury. But hey, four years feels close to forever, and two people sent us tips about it this week, so we couldn’t resist. It’s now on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map along with more than 20 other sightings, all of which we have archived here – still taking tips, since it’s not Christmas yet. Thanks to everybody who’s helping make this season truly bright!

Almost up to two dozen sights to see on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map. It came in handy for the second annual West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor)-organized Christmas-lights run last night, Tim McConnell tells us:

He shared that photo of what he declared “a great turnout,” adding, “We stopped by 6 of the displays from the map, ending the run at the Helmstetler house and heading to Prost! for post run beverages. Everyone had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the lights.” And of course tonight we are adding another display:

Thanks to Susan for sharing that photo of her home’s display at 5106 SW Stevens! We’ll be adding to the map at least through Christmas, so more suggestions are welcome – editor@westseattleblog.com!

We had set out to check an Admiral District tip “around 37th/Hanford” but might have been too early – didn’t see the lights in question. However, we found these two homes nearby, at Belvidere/Hanford, and though neither is completely awash in lights, each had a distinctive feature – the luminarias above, and the non-plastic, non-inflatable creche scene below:

We’ve added that corner to the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map – and will keep adding at least through Christmas Day; tips still welcome at editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks to everyone who’s helped so far (especially the display creators themselves!)

Not only does the Campbells’ home at 7915 31st SW have plenty of lights – it has a dozen snowmen, too! That’s a cheery sight given this snowless and relatively rainless almost-winter. Thanks to Paul Campbell for sending word of his home’s bright display, which is now added to the others on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map (which you can also find on the Holidays page).

Second – Tim McConnell at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) says they’re leading a Christmas-lights run tomorrow night, based on some of the displays highlighted here. The run will leave WS Runner (California and Charlestown) at 6 pm tomorrow (Tuesday) and finish up at the Helmstetler Family Spectacular display (just a few blocks east of WSR). Tim says, “It’s a 3.5 mile course, we are going to go slow so everyone can see the lights … should be about 45 minutes or so. Holiday attire is encouraged, having some way of seeing and being seen is mandatory. All are welcome. Pets included.” (Not related to lights, Tim says WSR also is launching another “Get Fit West Seattle” series that’ll get you to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, first info night at WSR 7 pm Wednesday.)

(WSB photo from 11/26/11 ‘opening night,’ with all the lights turned on between shows)
If you’ll be out looking at lights this Christmas Eve/Day or New Year’s Eve, Helmstetler Family Spectacular mastermind Jim Winder says you’re invited to stop by the famous music-synched show for free hot cocoa 6-9 pm – and on Christmas Eve, they’ll also have free mini-cupcakes donated by Diva Espresso (while they last). The show itself is free, but they’ve been collecting donations for local causes – here’s a Facebook photo of their first delivery to the West Seattle Food Bank; bring nonperishable food when you stop by and look for the bin right in front of the house, which is at 3908 SW Charlestown, across from the water tower. It’s of course also on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map, which we’re updating with new additions nightly. Find out more about the show on its official website, which includes videos from the past two years (we have a couple clips from this year’s opening night, November 26th, in our coverage).

We’re publishing tonight’s spotlighted Christmas lights earlier than previous nights, since the weather’s good and you just might be going out for a bit of what one WSB’er called “light-seeing.” Thanks to Midge for the tip on this: She mentioned the house above, on the east side of the street in the 5400 block of 40th SW in Fairmount Springs. We noticed the house right next door (photo below) is nicely lit too, as are others along the several-block stretch of 40th that we drove.

This block is now added to our WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map, and we’re still welcoming suggestions – editor@westseattleblog.com – through Christmas! You can also find the map any time on the West Seattle Holidays page any time. Our previous Christmas-lights spotlights are all on , the archive page for this “category” of WSB stories – find it here.

Thanks to Oleana for sharing this display, including a photo as well as the address (7900 block of 30th SW). Here, it’s not the lights as much as the carvings! We’ve added this to the ongoing WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map. Keep the tips coming, with or without photos – editor@westseattleblog.com. (You can also find the map on the West Seattle Holidays page any time, and the photos of lights we’ve already featured are archived here.)

Found a few more West Seattle light displays on this citywide list published by our partners at the Seattle Times – and that’s where we found the address for the home above, the Martin family residence at 44th and Holly in Morgan Junction. Some of the other homes on the Times list are already on the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map, and we’ll be checking out the few others we hadn’t already heard about. Your tips are appreciated too – editor@westseattleblog.com – through Christmas! You can find the map on the West Seattle Holidays page any time. To see the photos of lights we’ve already featured, check out the archive page for this “category” of WSB stories – find it here.

We found out about tonight’s featured Christmas lights – 4152 46th SW – in the comment section following an earlier spotlight. DD said her husband, Duane Davis, started work on the display around Thanksgiving, and was expecting to finish last weekend. So we checked it out tonight and added it to the West Seattle Christmas lights map:

You can find the map on the West Seattle Holidays page any time. If you just want to scroll through photos of lights we’ve featured, use the archive page for this “category” of WSB stories – go here.

… to put up Christmas lights. The tipster for this one – TJ, who also shared the photo (thank you!) – says “Brother-in-law is still just a kid at heart. He is 72 and climbs up to the roof to put his lights up.” 7900 block of 32nd SW. Makes us feel guilty for feeling like we exerted ourselves to throw a few strands on the shrubbery! Thanks to everyone who’s been sending tips, with and without photos – editor@westseattleblog.com – meantime, we’ve added the address to our updated-daily clickable/printable Christmas lights map (find it here, or on the West Seattle Holidays page).

Our nightly spotlights continue: Tonight’s photo is courtesy of the McKean Family, whose lights are shining at 3431 48th SW, near Schmitz Park. Thanks for including the photo! We appreciate photos if you have them to go with Christmas-lights reports – but it’s not mandatory, just let us know where you’ve seen lights others might want to know about! We’re continuing to add them to the clickable/printable Google Map you will find on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page (along with lots of other holiday info and event listing).

Sorry for the subpar photo – some equipment challenges for a while on Monday night. But even if it had been taken by the most talented photographer with the most fabulous equipment, the point of this display would be the same – it’s not brilliantly light-laden, but we love the tree atop the beautiful old brick Alki Apartments building at 2348 Alki SW – you can see it from quite some way away. The entire beachfront drive is worthwhile for light-lovers, as many condo- and apartment-dwellers deck their balconies, and some of the remaining single-family homes do, too (one of the fabled Flower Houses has some cute lights). We happened onto this during a late-night scouting trip after discovering the home we had hoped to photograph elsewhere was already “off” for the night. Keep the tips coming – editor@westseattleblog.com – and check out our Google Map of all the spots we’ve featured, including this one, viewable on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page.