T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — The Christmas light and music show on Country Club Lane plays during “The Polar Express.” The show begins every night at 5 p.m. until the first week of January.

For many people in many towns, driving around during the holiday season to look at holiday lights on homes is a favored pastime. One Marshalltown house in particular gives holiday light enthusiasts something extra — syncing lights with music.

Since he was in eighth grade, Marek Jablonski has placed holiday lights in the yard and synced them to Christmas music, creating a roughly 17-minute long show. Now a computer engineering student at Iowa State University in Ames, Jablonski, 21, was inspired by the previous holiday light and music show at the Marshall County Courthouse.

“I wanted to do it myself,” he said. “I figured out how to do it, bought the components and put together the first barebones show.”

Since the beginning of the Jablonski show, he has tried to make it different every year. This year, he incorporated pixel mini trees as they are easier to build and maintain. Jablonski can also program and control every single light in the show. Returning this year are the familiar show songs — “House on Christmas Street,” “Carol of the Bells” by David Foster and “The Polar Express.”

Syncing the lights with the music is an involved process, but one Jablonski has become familiar with. Long before the show opens, he uses software to sync the lights with the music.

“I will start that in January and by the summer or fall, it’s ready to go,” Jablonski said. “Over Thanksgiving break, I put all of the pieces together and set them up. The day after Thanksgiving, I give it a go and the controller drives everything.”

Even though he does not live in Marshalltown anymore, he hears that multiple cars will stop and watch the show. Jablonski likes to get word out about the show because he uses it to raise money for a cause he believes in, and so far this year he has raised between $150 and $200.

“Not a lot of people know about it, since it’s on the edge of town,” he said. “For seven, eight years, I have included a donation box on the left side of the show to raise money for the House of Compassion. The box is labeled, and it also has a QR code if people do not have cash.”

If other Marshalltown residents are inspired to create their own Christmas music and light show, Jablonski urged them to move forward, and not be afraid if they do not know what they are doing.

“I did not know what I was doing,” he said. “It just takes a lot of research and time. It is definitely possible for anyone to do.”

Jablonski uses xLights, a free program which allows people to design and operate their own shows through controllers.

Residents can watch Jablonski’s Christmas light and music show at 1737 Country Club Lane every night from 5 to 11 p.m. Radios need to be tuned to station 90.3 to hear the music. The show will continue until the first week of January, and Jablonski intends to hold it annually, at least until he graduates from college in two or three more years.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.