Lights bright as neighbors join together for jubilation

You have to go see it. At least once. A crowd of strangers, starry-eyed and awestruck. Thousands of lights dancing in the soft nighttime rain. It is all the magic and goodwill and aloha of every commercial Christmas fantasy, but it’s real and right here and free. And amid the crowd, smiling the biggest, brightest smile of all, is Keith Yoshida.

Yoshida is the man who did all the dreaming, convincing and wiring that started the annual Waikele Christmas Lights display on the little Anapau Place cul-de-sac. You may have seen it on the TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” or in the drone video that went viral, but nothing comes close to experiencing it in person.

There are hundreds of people wandering through the neighborhood — little kids dressed in fuzzy boots and knit hats with pompoms bouncing as they skip; couples out on date night slowly strolling hand in hand; moms pushing giant strollers; dads gently dancing while carrying their preschoolers on their shoulders; teens taking giddy selfies. People truly, simply happy.

Yoshida, 50, grew up in Kalihi. Like many kids of that time and place, he has memories of nighttime family drives up Booth Road to see the Christmas decorations on houses.

In 1999 Keith and his wife, Nalani, bought their home on Anapau Place. That’s when the Christmas displays started in earnest. “I spent almost a year researching online before I took the plunge,” he said.

The last time they attempted any sort of attendance count was in 2014. That year they gave away more than 20,000 candy canes between Thanksgiving and the end of December. They figure that’s about right, about 500 people a night.

Yoshida and his neighbors have worked to manage the crowds so that the experience is fun and safe. They got a permit from the city to close off the street to traffic. They shortened the light show to about 35 minutes. “It helps get people cycling through,” Yoshida said. One year they gave out free hot chocolate but soon realized that if people were drinking cocoa, they’d need to use the bathroom, so they nixed that idea.

The Yoshidas’ two children are now in college. Daughter Kaylin is a junior at UH West Oahu. Son Nevin is about to graduate with a degree in aeronautical engineering from Embry Riddle.

“Before, it was for our kids. Now it’s for other people’s kids,” Yoshida said.

Francis Navarro just moved into the cul-de-sac this month, if you can imagine that. He was told about the lights before he signed the lease, but he’s still amazed at the hundreds of strangers strolling outside his front door every night. “I eat my dinner out here and watch them go by,” he said. One night Navarro saw a young man propose to a woman under the canopy of lights. Navarro points to two tiny children who have run up to Yoshida to tug on his sleeve.

“The kids always find him to thank him,” Navarro said.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.