Beginning at sunset every night since Thanksgiving, cars have been pulling up every few minutes in front of Bill and Elaine Gilfillen’s hilltop San Marcos home. But this year, the drivers are pulling away just as quickly in sadness and alarm, rather than delight.
For the first time in 33 years, the Gilfillens’ annual 100,000-bulb holiday lighting spectacle, known as , has gone dark. Because Bill will turn 83 in January, many regular visitors have been worried that poor health had forced him to retire his unofficial title as northern San Diego County’s “Mr. Christmas.”“We did this for the good of the community, to keep people from grouping together in the front yard,” Elaine said. “I didn’t want to be the mask police out there every night and didn’t want anyone touching Bill. By next year we’ll be able to do it again, since we’ll have the vaccine to help us.
Usually from Thanksgiving Eve until Dec. 30, the home at 1639 Knob Hill Rd. is bedazzled with well over 100,000 twinkling holiday lights and more than 100 illuminated and, in many cases, animated, lawn, tree and roof sculptures. Up to 20,000 people visit each holiday season, arriving in carloads from L.A., Arizona and Mexico, and by busloads from area senior communities. Many visitors who came as children are now bringing their own young families.
Not being able to decorate this year has been a big disappointment for Bill, because he misses interacting with the visitors each night. Usually for the two weeks before Christmas, he dresses up every night as Santa Claus and provides lap-sitting time and candy canes to nearly 3,000 children. That loss comes on top of him not being able to see much of his children and grandchildren this year because of the pandemic.
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