It’s hardly your average holiday display. Every year the Nortons transform their front yard into what looks like a pint-sized amusement park.

“The merry-go-round spins around,” Dick Norton points out. 

“All the wheels move on the train.”

“But the best part,” says his wife Pam, “is this guy made it all.”

It all started with this first piece – a Santa in a box built in 1970 – and got more elaborate from there. But if you think Dick Norton is a retired engineer, think again. 

“I sort of hate to say this,” he admits, “I used to work for the Internal Revenue Service.”

Spending time in his workshop provided a much-needed diversion from his day job.

A display of this magnitude takes a lot of energy to put up every year.

“Takes us five weeks,” Norton says. “We start the day after Halloween.”

It also takes a lot of energy to make it run. With 32 circuits coming out of the house, the Nortons have pretty much maxed out their capacity and their electric bill.

“We don’t want to talk about that,” they laugh.

They’ve also maxed out their wall space with accolades. They've won the Burbank Holiday Lights contest so many times, they eventually stopped entering.  

Over the years, they’ve tried to change it up. They’ve even thought about stopping, but their fans wouldn’t have it.

“We had doorbells ring. We had emails come in,” Norton recalls. “You can’t stop. You’re the one thing that doesn’t change.” 

The couple loves the visitors. They have a log book that collects signatures from around the world and visitors often leave a few dollars to offset that enormous electric bill. Mostly, they love to see the kids faces light up.

“We have people who come with their kids who came when they were kids,” Norton beams.

Like Laura Perez who’s come every year since she was six years old, later bringing her children and now their children. Looking at the display, she gets choked up.

“I was remembering my mom, how we used to come,” she says. “She’s not with us no more. So it’s very nice seeing this every year.”

It’s stories like that motivate the Nortons who say they’ll continue to carry on the tradition as long as they are physically able.  

That’s good news for their loyal fans.