Check out the 2021 display as part of Febus Holiday Lights on Sharon Drive in Toms River. (photo by Catherine Galioto)
Toms River residents have set up a dazzling array of festive holiday lights. You can drive around town and see several evenings’ worth of Christmas light displays, with holiday cheer draped from mailbox to chimney, shining and blinking. Many are intricate displays with projections, dancing inflatables, moving parts and choreographed lights synced to holiday music.
Here are some of the best ones Toms River Shorebeat has found. Many of the creators made facebook pages to keep fans and visitors updated about showtimes and weather, so check in for the latest info:
Ferrone’s Christmas, 184 Yellowbank Road, perhaps the largest and best known of the Toms River displays. This family has had a longtime tradition of building an intricate display and light show that bops along to the music. The festivities have spread to the neighboring homes, too. This year, “You’re Welcome” from Moana is part of the lineup as well as classic and untraditional holiday and Disney music. Be sure to mind the rules so everyone gets a glimpse of the fun as the head Jedi helps manage the queue to view, or park safely and walk up. Feel free to contribute to the collection box, benefiting the Children’s Hospital.
Ciupinski Family Holiday Light Show, 226 Sharon Drive, prominently features a penguin who is happy to sing and dance to the music, among the countless lights and inflatables. This fun display also has a collection box for BFF Rescue.
Febus Family Christmas Spectacular, 910 Salem Drive, delights with huge inflatables, a talking Jack Skeleton and a Santa, as well as a movie screen among the elaborately crafted display. Another unique feature is the giant wooden reindeer. After your Salem Drive jaunt head around the corner to Egret Drive where several more residents have set up great displays, including a North Pole outhouse! 1194 Audubon Drive is just one nearby example.
The Braun’s Christmas Wonderland, 510 Bash Road, is a colorful display that lights up the night with holiday scenes all over the front yard and house façade. Check out the beautiful Christmas ornament arch, and a movie screen feature, on the night we stopped by it was A Christmas Story. This display has the benefit of being on later than many others, turning off the lights at 11 p.m.
Downtown Toms River, Washington Street, Main Street and Hooper Avenue. The downtown area of these main streets are where to find the iconic municipal, county and business improvement district holiday lights. For decades, the Peace On Earth lights have hung above Washington Street. Toms River’s holiday tree is festooned outside town hall, while the county has lit up its display on the corner of Washington and Hooper. Plus, the downtown corridor businesses have the giant snowflakes dotted around the area in addition to their own displays. Check out the inside and outside of the Mathis House, a historic bed and breakfast and tea house that is brimming with cheer to look at or take home.
Joyce Manor, 50 Joyce Street in Silverton, has a grinchtastic light show that projects and interacts with the house, transforming it into a live action piece that is unique. Similar to the treatment they gave for their Halloween show, the display also corresponds to music you queue up on your car radio. There are two projection shows, one featuring the Grinch and the other based on Nightmare Before Christmas, starting after sundown each night, through January 6.
To see a whole neighborhood lit up, head off Indian Hill to Palmerson Court, where the culdesac’s residents work together for a twinkling light display at every home. Traditional white lights shine from each tree and frame homes also festooned with evergreen wreaths, creating an elegant drive-through experience.
Our last example has been lighting up the night for several years now, creating a tradition for those who enjoy Christmas lights. For the Forest Trail Circle lightshow, head to the end of this long culdesac and cozy up to full length songs from Frozen and more projected onto the house, transforming it into a giant movie screen but also a light show of presents, bows and more.
What Toms River displays did we miss? Let us know as more residents each year add to the festivities with incredible holiday lights.
