'Magic Vista' in Arnold neighborhood

This holiday season, the Mago Vista community in Arnold should consider renaming itself "Magic Vista."

At a bend in the road at 425 Century Vista Drive, near Spriggs Court, there is a wondrous animated display of Christmas lights on the lawn of David Nibeck's house.

A tall inflatable Santa and a lit Nativity scene are set upon the grass. On the path near the split-level house, a wooden Ferris wheel whirls. Plush Christmas bears and other stuffed toys sit silently in the wooden bucket seats, illuminated with neon lights.

High on the front facade, a scoreboard ticks down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Christmas Day.

But, that's not what draws people from the neighborhood and across the Broadneck Peninsula to see the house.

As a song plays through the outdoor speakers on the darkened lawn, a light flickers. Then, more begin to glow. Shapes appear to leap and tumble through the air.

Colors cross-fade, dim, twinkle and change rapidly. Small pine trees jump in place, and suddenly vaporize. Candy canes dance merrily.

"He's the Clark Griswold of Mago Vista," said neighbor Christie Barrett.

She's referring to the Chevy Chase character in the 1989 movie "Christmas Vacation," who envelops his house with strings of incandescent Christmas lights.

"My family likes to sit out front in our car and listen to the music," Barrett said. "Plus, I sneak by on my way home from work."

Some people hang out to watch the entire 30-minute show.

Inside, Nibeck and his three sons watch from the dining table in the front window. And smile.

Mason, the oldest at 16, is a junior at Broadneck High School. The 13-year-old twins are eighth-graders at Severn River Middle. Adam's the one with the buzz cut; Nicholas sports the Beiber look.

The display has more than 10,000 lights, most of which are LED bulbs. There are 64 channels, each controlled by a Light-O-Rama computer program that turns the illumination on and off and provides dramatic effects.

There are a dozen songs in the light show, most of them Christmas classics.

"Each song is specifically programmed for the lights," Nibeck said. "Each minute of music takes three hours to program. It takes me about 10 hours per song."

He broadcasts the songs through outdoor speakers nightly from 6 to 8 p.m. From 6 to 10 p.m. the transmission can also be heard via a radio. The show is nightly through Jan. 2. A sign advises passers-by where to tune in.

The light show almost put his lights out the first year.

"The energy usage when the bulbs were all incandescent was incredible," Nibeck said. "We quickly ran out of power in our house. We were tripping the circuit breakers." He soon switched to LED lights.

It takes Nibeck four weekends to set up the displays.

"He takes holiday decorating to a whole new level," said Amy McCarthy, who operates a licensed day-care center blocks away. "We go by every year.