Edenberry extravaganza

By Nicole DeCosta

The Lake Oswego Review, Dec 22, 2009

Vern Uyetake / Lake Oswego Review

Many say George Psihogios started the light trend on Edenberry Drive and Edenberry Court in the Westlake neighborhood.

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One Lake Oswego neighborhood takes the lyric “deck the halls” literally. Dozens of homes laced with lights, garland, inflatable animals and Santas give Portland’s Peacock Lane a run for its money – and light sockets.

Edenberry Drive and Edenberry Court in the Westlake neighborhood off Kruse Way have become a staple light spectacle.

And it all began with one house and a guy named George, so the legend goes.

“It started as a competition thing with my neighbor. He moved away and then the rest of the neighborhood caught on,” said George Psihogios, who lives at 14021 Edenberry Court.

That was more than a decade ago.

“I used to (also) have big inflatables and music, but I’ve done away with that because it’s overkill,” he said.

This year, Psihogios’ yard features angels and a nativity scene, while his home is trimmed in lights. So many lights that he installed special circuits to accommodate them.

“Every socket is a separate circuit,” he said, pointing above his garage. “There’s eight circuits right here. You can run a lot of stuff through those.”

Before, “you’d be vacuuming and the lights would blow out.”

His lights run on 26 timers that are on from 5 to 11 p.m., just like a majority of his neighbors. The price for all this flash?

“My electricity bill is $300 a month for a two month period,” he said. “When it’s cold (outside) and you walk through (my yard) you can feel the heat coming off of the lights.”

But that’s a small price to pay for perfection, and a tourist destination. A sign in Psihogios’ yard thanks folks for visiting this year.

The secret to Psihogios’ success, he said, is about gradually adding pieces to his holiday light collection each year – and storing the items in a storage unit at his office.

“It’s about build up, because going out one time and buying all this stuff gets really expensive – especially if you go out and buy all the timers and extension cords. This thing here is probably $200,” he said pointing to an illuminated angel.

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