Storm delays grand opening ceremony for Deacon Dave's Christmas Light Display in Livermore

LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- Deacon Dave's Christmas Light Display has been a holiday tradition for over three decades. The grand opening ceremony was scheduled for the Thanksgiving weekend but the festivities came to a crashing halt.

"I was working in the library and I thought it was a major earthquake," said Deacon Dave Rezendes of Deacon Dave's Christmas Light Display in Livermore. "There was a roar, a big rumble and crash."

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For the past 37 years, Deacon Dave's has been Livermore's most beloved Christmas light display in the East Bay, with over 600,000 lights.

"We were going to open Saturday night and about mid-day, we decided with the weather projections, with the high winds, it would be safe not to open," said Rezendes.

The night that should have been the grand opening ceremony of the Christmas Light Display, a 55-year-old tree crashed down on Deacon Dave's house.

"It had 35,000 lights that it brought down with it. I was sick over it," he said..

Sunday morning, volunteers came together to pick up the debris and haul the 2,000-pound tree away.

"I have an awesome team, the whole team, and the reason why they bring this together is for the community. That is what it is all about," said Rezendes. "Giving the people that come through a Christmas experience."

"This is what Christmas is all about is giving," said Holly Loberg, volunteer at Deacon Dave's Christmas Light Display. "Not the receiving part, it's the giving and this is where it all comes from."

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After a little rain and a set-back, Deacon Dave is looking forward to sharing the holiday cheer and having the community see the Christmas light display.

"I am looking forward to a good Christmas year here at the House of the Dove and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas," he said.