Stopped cars line the street on Brainard Ave. to stop and check out one of La Grange’s most extravagant light displays put on by LT science teacher Robert Sherman. Throughout the holiday season the lights run from 5 to 10 p.m.

This year’s light display includes over 86 circuits, 9,000 bulbs and 2,000 ft of extension cord, Sherman said. The lights are programed to turn on and off in sync with music on Sherman’s radio station to create the show.  As viewers drive by, they listen along to the music that coincides with the lights.

“The hardest part of the whole production is programing each circuit,” Sherman said. “I have to tell every strand of lights to be on or off and how bright every one-twentieth of a second.”

From the planning and programing of each circuit, to the physical construction of the show, the light display took around 100 hours of work to produce, Sherman said.

Originally, the lights were used to spell out ‘ILLINI” in orange and blue as a tribute to the University of Illinois’ sports teams. As an U of I alumni and in efforts to keep the tradition alive, Sherman incorporates the U of I fight song into his light display each year.

“I inadvertently stopped cheering for a team that was losing and decided to use the equipment for Christmas lights,” Sherman said.

As an LT teacher, Sherman uses his Christmas lights to connect back to the classroom and explain the mechanics behind the display to his students.

“It was really cool to learn about the [mechanics] involved in the show in physics class and then go see them in real life,” former physics student Olivia Raphael ‘17 said.