TRACY, CA – DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge, is photographed in front of his Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. His artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home’s exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
Christmas isn’t just something that happens once a year for Tom BetGeorge. It’s more of an ongoing passion for the Tracy resident, who works and plans 12 months a year to get his popular music and light show ready for the holidays.
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display is photographed in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge, is photographed in front of his Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. His artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display is photographed in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People watch Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: One of the cartoonlike faces sings during Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Fish swim past during part of Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People watch Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People watch Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People get an upclose look at Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People watch Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge, is photographed in front of his Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. His artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display is photographed in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: People watch Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge's Christmas light display is photographed in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The popular artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
TRACY, CA - DECEMBER 11: Tom BetGeorge, is photographed in front of his Christmas light display in Tracy, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. His artistic display has illuminated cartoonlike faces on the home's exterior, lips synced to pop music as colorful lights pulsate, all while beams from a row of rotating rooftop lights pierce the sky. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
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“I program it all year long — I literally start in January,” says BetGeorge, who estimates that the puts 450-500 hours into the project annually. “So, if you try to push that into the last part of the year, you’ll burn out — you’ll hate it — you won’t ever do it again.”
BetGeorge and his Teri (the couple has a newborn son, Titus James) are hosting their massive and magical light show through Christmas Day at their home at 15 Phillips Court in Tracy. Viewing hours 6-8:30 p.m. Fridays-Sundays. There’s even a website for it — magicallightshows.com — but BetGeorge says the most up-to-date information, regarding the impact of weather conditions and such, can be found at www.facebook.com/MagicalLightShows/.
Make no mistake, this is much more than a house and yard sporting a ton of lights and decorations. It’s a full-on show, which runs approximately 40 minutes, featuring some 70,000 lights choreographed to such musical selections as “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd, “Candy Cane Lane” by Sia, “Take On Me” by A-ha, Alex Boye’s cover of “Amazing Grace” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday. BetGeorge puts on four shows per night, Friday-Sunday, for viewers who park their cars nearby and then walk into the court.
And BetGeorge isn’t just some neighborhood Christmas light hobbyist, but rather a professional in the industry who designs lights shows for a living. His company is Magical Light Shows and his clients include theme parks, commercial buildings and churches — as well as about 2,000 residential customers. All told, he estimates that he programmed some 20 million lights this past year.
He programs lights for many different uses and occasions, of course, but it’s the Christmas projects — like the one at his home — that he really holds dear as they bring together his passions for music, Christianity and electrical engineering.
“I do absolutely feel like it’s a calling, because I am literally able to reach millions every year,” he says. “If you go to my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/tombetgeorge) and read the comments — it blows my mind how many people are legitimately feeling better by watching these videos.
“The comments are just proof that I am making a difference and I’m using what I believe to be gifts for the greater good.”
Over the years, BetGeorge has spent a lot of money putting on these shows — which are free for people to attend. It’s his way of giving back as well, hopefully, raising money for local charities. He’s collecting donations this year for the McHenry House Tracy Family Shelter and donations (and toys) for Brighter Christmas of Tracy.
“I think it’s absolutely critical that we are always helping people who are less fortunate — not only during Christmas time, but all year long,” he says. “Christmas is truly about giving, not receiving. And I’m a Christian, too, so I believe that we are actually called to help each other. It’s not analogous. It’s not a metaphor. It’s literal — we really need to help people who are less fortunate.”
This is the sixth year that BetGeorge has put on the light shows in Tracy. Prior to that, they were held for two years — 2013-2014 — at a friend’s home in Newark. The move to Tracy was deemed necessary, he says, as the Newark event “got big too fast.”
“It wasn’t a necessarily a problem yet, but I knew it would be if we stayed where we were at,” he says. “I think one of the last nights we ran it we had five police officers doing traffic and they were completely overwhelmed. We had about 700 cars lined up just to park.”
Since the family moved to Tracy, BetGeorge estimates that they’ve been averaging around 3,000 spectators per night — with the numbers slightly lower this year likely due to the pandemic.
“We have it much more under control now,” he says. “It’s never overwhelming — there’s never an overwhelming amount of people and there’s never a problem for parking, etc.”
