The week after Thanksgiving, they begin. The ladders come out of the garage, the staple guns are loaded, power cords are plugged in and box after box of decorations are unearthed from basements and attics.

For some, a strand or two of white lights along the eaves are enough to show the neighborhood their holiday cheer. For still more, icicle lights and glowing deer replace the classic plain white strands. A few go with the oversized, multi-colored bulbs along the trim, and some even pull out the blinking nets to be draped over every available shrub.

Then there are those that go all out with over-the-top Christmas decorations. For them, a wreath on the door and white lights along the fence might be nice, but cutting out your own Santa’s sleigh – complete with reindeer – or crafting your own plane with a turning propeller make a true Christmas display.

For Bill and Jean Orcutt of Cape Elizabeth, the two-day process of lighting up their yard, garage and house is a 20-year tradition.

With telescoping poles, they string lights through the trees. A Nativity is carefully arranged and a handmade train wishes passersby a merry Christmas. Lights line the walkway and glowing signs wish more holiday cheer on those who inevitably slow their cars to take a look at the Sea View Avenue home.

The only drawback?

“What my wife doesn’t like,” said Bill Orcutt, “is the electric bill.”

Though some of the decorations are store bought, the ones of which Orcutt is most proud are those he made himself. In past years the train, with wheels that look like they actually turn, was his favorite. This year, the plane he made to look like the one he flew during World War II – with a moving propeller – edged out the train as his current favorite.

If you can’t tell which ones are handmade, just look for the biggest and brightest among the many decorations. “All the big things I make myself,” said Orcutt.

With five children and now grandchildren, said Orcutt, the lights are partly for their benefit, though the neighbors are starting to catch the decorating mood.

While eyeing his neighbor’s lawn from the living room window, Orcutt acknowledged there might be a contest brewing.

“I think there might be a little friendly competition with the neighbors,” said Orcutt.

Two years ago, when Orcutt broke his hip, the large lighting project had to be put on hold. It wasn’t long before neighbors came over to offer their help. One year, another neighbor brought brownies as a thank-you.

Though it’s mostly been a good experience, said Orcutt, someone recently knocked over the figures in the manger, breaking some of the bulbs.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever called the police about anything,” said Orcutt.

Though the light display has only grown over the years, the Orcutts think this might be the finale. When everything is carefully put back in its place in the basement – a key for success, said Orcutt – the decorations might not come back out again next year.////Why?////

“It’s a fun project,” said Orcutt. “It really is.”

‘Like daylight’

On Sawyer Road in Scarborough, Willie Myers put up only half of his usual lights due to a recent illness.

But viewers wouldn’t guess that by looking at his yard. Myers has a hard time picking out a favorite – mostly because there are so many.

“I like them all,” said Myers. “Each year I buy a new one.”

With the help of his daughter, he didn’t have to skip a year of lighting up his home. Though it’s hard work, the lights come down promptly after Christmas. Like the Orcutts, everything is carefully stored to avoid a mess the following year.

Carol and Niles Clarke also thought their elaborate Christmas decorating would be put on hold. Last year, just two days before Christmas, their Payne Road yard was robbed of Carol Clarke’s favorite – and most costly – inflatable decorations.

Gone were her favorites, such as Mickey Mouse and the platform built by Niles Clarke on which the cartoon characters stood.

In the hopes the crooks, who even stole her Grinch, would feel bad, she put up a sign saying thanks to thieves, there would be no Christmas lights.

In a completely unexpected, but much appreciated gesture, she said, people started to drop off decorations – including a new, blow-up Grinch that pulls gifts from a chimney.

“I didn’t put up the sign to get things,” she said. “I just wanted the thieves to feel bad.”

Now, their holiday display is back in all its former glory.

“It’s just like daylight out there,” said Niles Clarke.

Though they love the results of their hours of work, most of it is for their 15 grandchildren and the hundreds of visitors who drive by or even stop for a few photos.

This year, though, they aren’t taking any chances. Every night the Clarkes bring in their newest favorite – a moving and glowing alligator sporting a red Santa hat.

“That one,” said Carol Clarke of the $100 alligator, “is just the best.”

The next generation

For the Labers on Sunset Road in Scarborough, taking two days to light up their home is all a part of the Christmas spirit.

“We’ve always liked Christmas,” said Charles Laber. “It’s the most cheerful time of the year. Everyone seems more mellow and peaceful.”

In the Labers’ yard are snowmen, a train, tall trees strung with lights and walkways lined with glowing candy canes, to name a few. Coming off of the I-295 spur into Scarborough, you can’t miss the festive glow.

Though Laber suspects his neighbors might think he and his wife, Donna, are a little crazy, when the couple was late hanging lights from their large trees, a neighbor asked when he could expect to see the yard completed.

The neighbors aren’t the only ones who look forward to the annual display. Their three grandchildren have come to expect a grand scene each year, said Laber.

With the addition of a light-up train three years ago, said Laber, the whole display came together.

“That’s when it really started looking like we have a lot out there,” said Laber.

It’s a two-person job, said Laber, taking as many as 16 hours to get everything in place. Though they both decorate, his wife shoulders most of the burden.

“She probably does more than I do,” said Laber. “I’m more of her helper.”

In South Portland, a trip down Highland Avenue could possibly satisfy the longings of any Christmas lights enthusiast. The brightest house of them all, though, is the home of Louise Strout.

After 40 years of hanging lights from every available tree and dreaming up custom decorations, the Strouts’ display is encroaching onto the house next door.

It’s a good thing she knows the owners.

“My son bought the house next door a year ago,” said Strout. “He’s still learning.”

Together with her son, Strout managed to lean several tall, homemade, light-covered Christmas trees in the actual trees between their houses. Charlie Brown and his crew hang out by the road with their own spotlights. Even the mailbox is covered in multiple strands of lights.

“We keep saying no, we won’t do it this year,” said Strout. “But then we always do. We do it for the kids, they just love it. The little ones like Snoopy and Charlie Brown.”

The kids aren’t the only ones. Stand in the driveway for more than 10 minutes and as many cars will slow down to catch sight of the lights.

Strout’s husband, Ronald, created a Santa, sleigh and reindeer filled not with toys, but with lobster pots inspired by their son Tim, a lobsterman.

Most of the decorating is handled by Strout, and after four decades of carefully putting everything up and putting it all back with even greater care, she hardly hits a snag.

“By now,” said Strout, while re-arranging an errant reindeer, “I’ve got it down to a science.”