Southport couple putting up 400,000 lights for Christmas

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — A Merry Christmas can come in all shapes and sizes. For one Southport couple, it’s all about the lights, and a lot of them to be sure.

If you thought putting lights on your tree was enough, you have a thing or two to learn about decorating for Christmas. Try more than 400,000.

That’s the story out at the Emblers’ home on Navigation Road near Southport. They’ve been doing it for 20 years. They say more than 5,000 people come out to see their winter wonderland every year, and they don’t make a dime off of it, either.

For them it is all about the smiling faces that stroll through. That is what makes it all worth it.

“It gets bigger and bigger and bigger every year,” said Mickey Embler standing next to his wife Kathy, “and the more we love it, the more we love showing off.”

The only time it is not on after it opens on Thanksgiving Day is if it’s raining.

If you are wondering about the cost to run all those lights every year, it only costs them about $240 for the whole season.