South Jersey family wins $50,000 for holiday home display

🎄The final “Deptford Dazzling Lights” display won Tuesday's "The Great Christmas Light Fight"

🎄The new display, "GLOW! The Light Show," in Washington Township, includes some of the old display

🎄Vandals tried to knock out the display but it was repaired in a day

DEPTFORD — A New Jersey family wins big on ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight."

The Uszaki family's holiday display beat out two others on Tuesday's show to take home $50,000.

The show featured the family’s 2022 “Deptford Dazzling Lights” display at their home. The family has known for a year that their 80s video game theme had won but had to keep it quiet.

The display turned the Uskaki house and yard into a giant arcade with homemade gingerbread figurines and candy canes designed by Dan Uszaki, the athletic director for the Northern Burlington County Regional School District.

"The first time we knew we won there was a lot of excitement but we couldn't share it with anyone. Tuesday was a real feeling of winning being able to share it with everybody," Dan Uszaki told 6 ABC Action News.

The family now operates a drive-thru display, "GLOW! The Light Show," in Washington Township.

A belief in Santa

For dad Dan Uszaki, the displays both at his home and in Washington Township are a labor of Christmas spirit and belief in Santa Claus, even at the age of 42.

"There’s something extraordinary about believing in the impossible, a benevolent figure who spreads joy and kindness with simple things like a sleigh and some reindeer. It’s a testament to the enduring power of hope and the beauty of childlike faith, something I hold dear as I grow older," Uszaki wrote on the "GLOW! The Light Show" Facebook page. "For me, the spirit of Santa Claus is not just for children, it is a reminder for everyone to embrace the joy in giving, the warmth of togetherness, and the magic that can be found in something as simple as Christmas lights."

The prize money went towards the creation of the new drive-thru display, with over two million lights in zones that include the world's largest animated snowman, a ferris wheel, Christmas songs, a Jersey Shore display and Nutcracker Row.

Vandalism can't stop Christmas

The "GLOW! The Light Show" display was vandalized early Sunday morning and suffered a "significant amount of theft and property damage." Much of the vandalism was plugs pulled from displays, which required a day to restore.

The display was reopened Tuesday to host a screening party of “The Great Christmas Light Fight." No arrests have been made in the case by Washington Township police.

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