Olivenhain neighborhood lights up decades-old holiday tradition

ENCINITAS — Wayne Knorek had to warn the newest family moving into the neighborhood.

Knorek, who lives in Olivenhain behind Fire Station 6 off 11th Street, evoked Chevy Chase’s character from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” in sharing his good-natured heads-up.

“‘Just so you know, we’re in a Griswold neighborhood,'” Knorek recalled telling the newcomers.

Nearly every house in the neighborhood features Christmas lights or other holiday decorations, a sprawling display that would make the fictional Griswolds proud. Some displays dance to synchronized music, while others are dominated by oversized inflatable characters.

It has become an annual tradition among neighbors, attracting visitors from far and wide. Knorek said tour buses have even visited the light display.

Heatherlynn Horbatt, a Leucadia resident, said she stumbled upon the illuminated neighborhood by accident in 2019. Horbatt said she loves bringing friends from Yoga 101 to wander the neighborhood, admiring the lights over a festive bourbon-and-eggnog cocktail.

“We love the lights,” she said. “We come every year.”

Neighbors say the tradition dates back to the community’s original developers, Robert Booker and Bob Lucido, who called the community “The Colony” in city records.

Kristi and Paul Clark were among the first residents to move into the neighborhood and have lived there for more than 30 years.

Paul said that even when they moved in, “a reasonable percentage of people would put up something.”

He said Lucido “was the instigator.”

Booker called Lucido “the trendsetter” for a neighborhood made up largely of young families at the time.

“He was Griswold,” Booker said with a laugh.

The lights began as both a way to bond the emerging community and to help market the neighborhood.

Lucido, who lived in the community as it was built incrementally in the 1980s and 1990s, started by wrapping lights around the split-rail fence, according to neighbors.

Paul said the effort “tied it all together, giving the sense of the neighborhood.”

Booker said the “ranch rails” were originally meant to reflect the rustic, country setting of Olivenhain, where horseback riding is a common sight.

Lucido also rented a forklift for a week — Booker said it was “cheaper to rent for the week” — and after decorating his own home, offered to use the equipment to help neighbors decorate tall trees.

Neighbors said he would offer extra strands of lights to fill dark patches on homes throughout the neighborhood.

“It just keeps filling in and filling in,” Knorek said.

“It got to the point where everybody participated to some level,” Paul said.

“It sort of evolved over the years due to a good group of family people,” Booker said. “It’s all about community. It’s nice to see the tradition continue and even elevate.”

“People have found really clever little things; every house is so different,” Kristi said.

Over time, innovation has helped both the spectacle and the costs.

Paul said Lucido once had to run 39 extension cords to maintain his display. Booker said Lucido even upgraded his electrical system to keep the show going.

“Incandescent bulbs were a whole different game,” Paul said.

Kristi added that switching to LED lights cut their electrical bill in half. She said automatic timers and smartphone apps have also added convenience.

An early challenge was storing decorations, especially giant cutouts of Santa or other festive characters.

“One thing I like about the inflatables is that they pack down nicely,” Knorek said.

Children set up hot chocolate stands to serve visitors walking through the neighborhood.

Kristi said a TV news crew once wanted to film the streets at 5 a.m. to capture the lights in full bloom without crowds, asking neighbors to turn their displays on in the morning.

She said that to give the news crew a sense of the community, children woke up early on a school day to set up their hot chocolate stands for the cameras.

“It was so touching to see those kids up and excited,” she said.