VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach high school is spreading holiday cheer and at the same time taking action for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Noah Bilger's special house is on Mansion Cross Lane, and the flashing Christmas lights are doing more than putting the community in a holiday mood, thanks to the 16-year-old.
Noah's mom helped spread the word that we were honoring the Kellam High junior for his holiday display of dancing lights and music, which also includes a collection box for donations benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
We presented Noah with a News 3 People Taking Action award along with a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank.
Noah's mother Emily Hitzeman was beaming with pride "I'm so proud of him." "Everyday it's something new. It's something more. It's one little idea and then the persistence and the hard work, the commitment---it's just how he is," she said.
Noah says it takes him about 400 hours to pull this off, setting up eight-thousand lights and programming the lights and music on a computer. He says he found all the information on how to do this and the software on the internet.
I asked his dad, Jeremy Bilger how the power bill is? "I haven't seen it yet, but it wasn't too bad last year. But we've switched to a lot of LED'S this year, so it should be OK."
Noah also hooked up FM transmitter to the computer that allows folks riding by to listen to Christmas music and watch the light display from the comfort of their car.
His grandmother, Beverly Bilger is so proud of all his work, "The music he gives back, the decorations he gives back and the fact he can give back to the community in this way, is just awesome."
Kellam High's Director of Bands, Cameron Baker says Noah is truly a remarkable student, "And I think it's a testimony to what we get out of our school system....when we have someone actively involved in the arts. You get the creativity combined with the ingenuity to put something really great together."
