More than 40 homes make up this year's Wakefield Winter Wonderland, a celebration of lights that is still lighting up the Santa Clarita community 25 years after it started on Wakefield Court and Copperhill Drive.

"It really is just neighbors being neighbors," said Tim Archer, who's been spearheading the event since 1996. "It's a community of people that do this for all the right reasons."

Archer moved into the neighborhood in 1996, but the Wakefield Winter Wonderland tradition was born two years earlier - In the aftermath of the Northridge Earthquake. 

"Everybody had to come out of their houses so they got to know each other," he said.

This was his next door neighbor's first year on the block.

"I really encouraged them not to worry too much about the first year," he said.

It's a year Jenifer Sullivan never dreamed would actually put her and her husband on Wakefield Court.

"I actually told him I would never move to this street, and somehow we found each other two years later here," she laughed.

She added that it’s intimidating, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to make a good impression.

"I just moved. I don’t want to be the Grinch of the entire street! We have two young kids and this is what we want for them," Sullivan said.

Each house comes up with its own theme, and many of the decorations are handmade. 

"We’ll easily get 1,000 to 1,200 cars a night, and 5,000 to 6,000 people walking a night," Archer said.

Lera Davis brought out a photo album with pictures from Christmases past.

"Take you back to memory lane, huh?" she asked Archer, as he flipped through the pages.

They are memories that mean more to them than visitors will ever know.

"We just walk into everybody’s house, we’re really close," Davis said.

And after more than 20 years leading the way, Archer will be passing the baton next year, bringing fresh energy to this colorful cul-de-sac.

"These people will always be my friends," he said. 

It's a neighborhood that's truly putting the Santa in Santa Clarita.