Mornington’s Sam Di Gennaro already planning a $40k Christmas lights extravaganza
Christmas is over but a Mornington man is already busy planning his 2019 festive lights extravaganza, spending $10,000 on decorations — and he wants your help to pay for more.
South East
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As the rest of us pack up the Christmas decorations, a Mornington man is busy planning his next lights extravaganza - and has already spent $10,000 on it.
While you may have been enjoying a post-Christmas break, Sam Di Gennaro, 24, was buying dozens of Christmas trees in Kmart’s sale.
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He wants to fill his Robertson Drive house with festive cheer including about 300,000 lights.
Mr Di Gennaro hopes the community will help him achieve his festive goals and has started a Go Fund Me page to collect donations.
“I won’t just be covering the outside of the house in lights; I’ll be turning the whole house into a celebration of Christmas.” Mr Di Gennaro said.
“It’s a three-bedroom house so I can do a lot with it, especially once I take out all the furniture.”
The Mornington professional, who has an Instagram account dedicated to his lights, plans to order more decorations from overseas in the next few months.
“The larger pieces, including 3.5m tall trees with 5000 lights in each, will have to be shipped in a container,” he said.
“All up I think I’ll spend about $40,000 on the lights and decorations.”
Mr Di Gennaro’s love affair with Christmas began when he was 12 years old.
“I just like it. I like putting up the lights for people to see and enjoy,” he said.
He initially made a name for himself by decorating his Tennis Court home.
“I had to stop doing it after the 2016 Christmas because the crowds got too big,” he said.
“The court is small and there’s only one way in and out. It just got too much for the neighbours.
“But the new location won’t have the same traffic management issues.”
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