In the spirit of the holidays, one family in Highlands Ranch has transformed their house into an epic Star Wars themed holiday lighting display, complete with inflatables, over 20,000 lights, costume characters and refreshments.

Dubbed “Star Wars: The Battle for the North Pole”, the DePoty family makes holidays bright for neighbors and visitors with their annual Christmas light display at 9973 Blackbird Place in Highlands Ranch. The lights stay on nightly from 5-10 p.m. from Black Friday through Jan. 2.

On weekends, the DePoty children set up a hot chocolate and warm apple cider stand for spectators. The light display has become so popular over the years that it now has its own dedicated Facebook page.

The spectators come in droves. Most arrive by car, but hardcore aficionados of holiday spirit go as far as renting limos and party buses.

“Luckily we have some very understanding neighbors who deal with a lot of craziness over the holiday season,” said Ron DePoty, who spearheads the display along with wife, Megan, and their three children Joel,13, Xander,11, and Mackenzie,7.

DePoty has held a passion for holiday decoration for nearly four decades. He recalls days from his youth when he would assist his mother and stepfather with stringing up lights back in the 1980s.

“On Thanksgiving Day while everyone else was watching the football games, we’d be out putting up the lights in an effort to have them done that evening,” he said.

The passion for holiday decorating hasn’t waned, outlasting multiple apartments, houses and Ron and Megan’s transition from dating to marriage. Eventually, it settled in Highlands Ranch in 2007 with a “Santa’s Zoo” theme. Ten years ago, the DePotys moved to their current location and have run with the Star Wars theme ever since.

In addition to the 20,000 lights, the display features over 40 inflatable decorations highlighting characters from the original Star Wars trilogy, the prequels and the recent Disney films and mini-series.

The DePotys have adopted solar panels to aid with energy costs over the years but estimate that their energy bills double during the winter while running the display. The tornado which hit the Highlands Ranch area this past summer damaged their solar set-up, setting the stage for a hefty expense this December.

“We’ll be biting our lips when we get the bill this year,” DePoty said.

In addition to energy costs, DePoty says he sets aside around $500 each year for expansion and maintenance of the display. This year, that meant five new inflatables were added.

The DePotys do make some extra holiday cash from the children’s warm holiday drinks stand, but the proceeds have been used to assist with his father, John Spiegel’s fight with prostate cancer following a diagnosis in 2021. Last year, the DePoty children raised $4,000 toward their grandfather’s medical expenses.

With all the hype and activity surrounding the DePotys’ Christmas display, it might be enough to perturb a grinch or two in the neighborhood. But that isn’t the case, at least according to Ron.

“In 2022, we posed a challenge to our entire neighborhood to decorate with the plan for everyone to walk the Blackbird neighborhood on Dec. 23, then email me the number of the house that they believe is the best decorated, excluding ours,” DePoty said. “We then will be giving the house with the most votes a $100 amazon gift card on Christmas Eve.”

Eventually, Ron and his family hope to one day be selected for ABC’s Christmas television series, “The Great Christmas Light Fight”. They’ve received visits from the producers of the series, but have yet to gain that elusive selection.

With “the force” behind them, their annual mission to spread holiday cheer throughout the galaxy continues.