Father-Son Duo's Holiday Light Shows Raise $15K For Charity

WEST ISLIP — A father-son duo are using their passion for holiday lights to give back to the community.

For the past five years, Wayne Imperati, 61, and Anthony Imperati, 32, have created elaborate light displays on their individual West Islip homes, collecting more than $15,000 in donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Wayne told Patch that his family's tradition of creating intricate displays started more than 30 ago, when he moved to his 229 West 3rd St. home in 1986. What first started out as a display with two blow molds, slowly turned into a 30,000 pixel show today, all synchronized to music.

"My son enjoyed it so much," said Wayne. "I do it just for the kids. You look out the door and you see the kids dancing in the street. It's really nice."

Wayne told Patch he's traveled far and year round, to add to his collection of lights.

"I've been to numerous states to collect stuff for our shows," he said. "I've been to Pennsylvania, New Jersey. I've been as far as Virginia, Connecticut, Staten Island, and Brooklyn."

Anthony Imperati said that seeing his dad create his holiday display was a core part of his childhood memories. So when he and his wife moved five minutes away into their own home, located at 40 Pace Drive S., he created a light display of his own.

"I have the synchronized light so you continue to 98.5 FM," said Anthony. "I have all the vintage plastic decorations."

The display also includes two animated display boxes and a collection of about 600 blow molds. Both Anthony's and Wayne's displays run entirely on solar power, and the energy they generate throughout the year covers their electric bill, they said.

The Imperatis' tradition is so much a part of their lives that Anthony created a gender reveal light display last year, when his wife was pregnant with their baby girl.

"The lights means a lot to my family," Anthony said. "To be able to incorporate our new addition to that, is awesome."

Anthony said that his passion for holiday cheer inspired his neighbors — including one of his sisters — to also decorate.

"It's awesome to see families come to my house, park their cars, and they'll just walk the whole block looking at everyone's houses," he said.

The light displays have become such a beloved annual event, Anthony said, that Santa Claus and the West Islip Fire Department join in turning on the lights for the season on Black Friday.

"There are so many families that I've met — it's a tradition for their family to come during the holidays."

With more than 100 spectators per week, Anthony said it was a no-brainer to take advantage of an opportunity to give back with Make-A-Wish.

"We realized we can do even more than that with the support of our visitors, and friends and family," Anthony said. "Now it's just another thing that we're doing to try to give back to people that are less fortunate or children that are less fortunate."

Visitors can make a donation at either Anthony's or Wayne's houses through a donation box, donating online or by texting "wishlights" to 76278.

The father-son duo said that as long as people continue to enjoy them, they'll continue to put up their lights, especially during these troubling times.

"You just want people to be able to disconnect from reality and any challenges or problems they may be having, " said Anthony. "Just enjoy life and feel like a kid again."