Where to go in and around Modesto for awesome Christmas displays? Readers share favorites
There are those of us who can’t keep a string of lights alive from one year to the next. They went into the storage box last January working just fine, but plug ’em in this month and ... nada. We look in vain for the single tiny bulb that’s keeping 99 others dark, until finally we throw up our hands in frustration.
Then there are the people we salute here, who wrap their homes as presents to all of us: light shows that dazzle and dance; old-school blow molds of Santa, choir singers and more; amazing inflatables; plywood cutouts crafted with care; and much more.
We asked readers to share their own, or their neighbors’, must-see outdoor holiday displays. Here are the replies we received:
Modesto
We’ll start our annual list with a couple of seasonal staples
The first is the Moss home at 3101 Coffee Road, just north of Rumble Road. The can’t-miss display spans more than 250 feet and includes 215 blow-molded plastic decorations and a couple of 14-foot-tall lighted poinsettias shaped from rebar.
Not too far away is an even bigger display at 2809 Sylvan Avenue, just west of Roselle. This large property is populated by many Santas and snowmen but also remembers “the reason for the season” with a lighted peace symbol and cross.
You can’t take it all in at 45 mph, so best to pull into the McReynolds Avenue neighborhood on the south side of Sylvan. The sidewalk on the south side of Sylvan provides a nice vantage point. The north side has no sidewalk, just a drainage ditch.
- 1109 Speer Drive. Reader Edie Schleiss says this home is done up in LED blue and white lights with a snowflake, reindeer and snowman theme. “Absolutely beautiful display of blue Christmas trees, too,” she says. “A must-see display.”
3313 Bridgeford Lane. A reader tells us it’s an “amazing display synchronized to many Christmas tunes that play over the radio in your car.” Homeowner Carl Snyder says, “It took me literally a year of planning, trial and error, and purchasing to get to where I am today. ... I have 22,000 lights synchronized to music and broadcasting over a low-powered FM channel. I have a pair of speakers on the porch for the pedestrian traffic.” Snyder has 18 songs playing on rotation each night from 5:15 to 10 p.m.
1236 Sycamore Ave. Blake Bryan invites you to check out his display of 5,000 color-changing lights, “fully sequenced to family-friendly music which can be heard from our outdoor speakers or by tuning in to 87.9 FM. Its on Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m., and Friday-Saturday from 5 to 10.
2412 Sunrise Ave. A couple of people steered us to this home. One of them, Irma Roberts, said, “Rick and Cathy Ashmun work together every year to create a Christmas masterpiece! There are new pieces every year, usually built by Rick and painted and finished by Cathy.”
3512 Hillglen Ave. A reader emailed us, “The owners love to celebrate the Christmas season, inspiring their neighbors to put up their own displays, and talking to the people who walk and drive by as they stop to say how much they like the lights.”
5225 Garst Road
1541 Kentwood Ave.
3129 Merle Ave.
Beatrice Lane, where several houses are beautifully lighted
1116 Virginia Ave.
Added Dec. 14: 2816 Newhall Court. “My Christmas light show includes over 6,000 lights synchronized to eight Christmas classics,” Lee Machado says. “The show includes a singing Christmas tree and four mega stars on the roof. This year, we have created a 20-foot mega tree. ... You can listen in your car on 91.1 FM. Show runs from 5:30 - 9:30 on weekdays and 5:30 to 10:30 on weekends.
Added Dec. 15: Reader Analisa Freitas has come through with “a few of the more standout lights to add to the list”:
- 3103 Tully Road (giant everything, including a nutcracker, gumball machine, spinning tree, and elf workshop)
- 4105 Mercer Drive (singing tree and synchronized light-up arches)
- 3713 Bold Ruler Court (the largest collection of blow-up characters ever)
- West Rumble and Debbie Lane (National Lampoon plus many other well-known characters, and the only Christmas chihuahua and llama I’ve seen)
- 2805 Omega Way (huge man-made Christmas tree lit up in red, and Santas for days)
- 1217 Chehalem Drive (my favorite display! They have a life-size Santa on the porch, a whole display window decked out with bubbling lights and dolls and a mini Christmas tree, projectors, a huge sign that says “NOEL” — every inch of this house is covered in lights and it’s beautiful and the homeowners are very friendly)
- Scenic Drive and Springcreek Drive (they keep adding new elements every day it seems. The latest was a blow-up hot air balloon with Santa inside)
- Glenbrook Way and Argonaut Drive (lots of blow-up characters and lights! I am pretty sure they have a motorcycle Santa.)
- Added Dec. 19: 1201 imperial Ave. Danyale Sam is proud of the beautiful job her grandpa does in decorating his home. He “works hard every year and loves putting them up. ... He’s getting old and won’t be able to put them up forever.”
1201 Imperial Ave., Modesto Danyale Sam
Ceres
- Christmas Tree Lane. This is the region’s largest nightly neighborhood display. The area of Henry and Vaughn streets is seasonally transformed into a wonderland of lights and sounds. It can be enjoyed by vehicle or on foot through Dec. 31.
- The home at the northeast corner of Myrtlewood Drive and Lavon Lane
Turlock
- Oxford Court. Our roundup would be a sham without including this street, locally famous for the miniature elevated train that chugs from home to home. “We also play music, and every house is decorated over the top!” says Kyla Yotsuya, who runs the Facebook page for the Oxford Court Christmas Train. “Santa has been known to make an appearance on the weekends and we have some special events on our Facebook page.” The three-car train runs nightly from 6 to 9.
436 S. Moffett Road
731 E. Tuolumne Road. This display has light shows synchronized to 18 musical selections, including “Star Wars, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Avengers” scores and the humorous “Now That’s What I Call a Corona Christmas.” And, bonus, there’s even a bit of falling snow!
Oakdale
Atlas Court. All or nearly all the homes in the long court participate in the “Christmas Lights on Atlas Court” attraction. Through Jan. 8, lights run from 5:30 to 9 Sundays through Thursdays and from 5:30 to 11 Fridays and Saturdays, according to VisitOakdale.com “Tune your radio to 99.1 and you’ll have the music in your car, and don’t forget to turn off your headlights and drive slow!”
Riverbank
- 2012 Candlewood Place. Reader Danelle Serpa tells us the residents are “new to the neighborhood and have definitely added light” to it.
That’s it for now, readers, but this story will remain on modbee.com and will be updated as any additional recommendations come in. Happy holidays!
This story was originally published December 12, 2021 at 3:58 PM.
