Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 | 7:29 a.m.
In 1995 as local developer Brett Torino was putting the final touches on his sprawling outdoor holiday display in western Las Vegas, his father, Francis, told him he was eager to see it illuminated for the first time on Thanksgiving night.
Francis Torino died that Thanksgiving morning, never having seen the twinkling lights of his son's magical creation. Although that was the last time Brett Torino built a huge public Christmas display, his love for Christmas and the joy his huge diplays brought children did not die.
Torino's friend, Tom Devoe, who is the spitting image of Santa Claus, for 19 years has put up a neighborhood Christmas display in North Las Vegas and had long talked to Torino about expanding on it.
On Thursday, the 10th anniversary of his father's death, Torino will unveil his million-dollar creation "Christmastyme" on the 3000 block of Bartlett Avenue at Belmont Street and Judson Avenue. Three stacked giant toy building blocks near the entrance feature the initials "FPT" in remembrance of his dad.
"This is very special to me because my father meant a lot to me," Torino said as he directed about 40 volunteers putting the final touches on the seven-month-long project earlier this week. "My father will not miss this one because he is a part of it."
Christmastyme features 60 14-foot metal candy canes, 320 live trees, animated characters, a plexiglass frozen pond and an antique passenger train that will make continuous trips carrying 15 to 20 children 690 feet through a park featuring more than a million Christmas lights.
The display, which will be open nightly through Christmas, is being staffed by volunteers, including a group from the MGM Mirage. The hours of operation will be 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekends.
Admission is free, though donations can be made to Project Sunshine of Nevada, a nonprofit organization that hosts summer camps for critically ill and disadvantaged children at the Torino Ranch in Lovell Canyon in the Spring Mountains.
Devoe, whose brother Leonard died on Thanksgiving Day five years ago, says he understands what Torino has gone through. Having portrayed Santa Claus at the site for many years, a role he will happily repeat this holiday season, Devoe is glad his friend decided to help take his dream to the extreme.
"Brett has created a magical world," said Devoe, who built many of the project's mechanical characters, including two small children on a teeter-totter on the balcony of a brownstone house display and a little boy futilely casting a line onto the ice-like pond surface.
"Thousands of children will pass through here to see Santa Claus and have a lot to talk about when they leave."
Devoe said that in past years he and his wife, Linda, have had to pay a December electric bill of more than $500 beause of their outdoor Christmas display. Torino figures this year's December power bill for the three properties that make up the mega display will be more than $10,000, which he said will be paid by the Brett Torino Foundation.
If Christmastyme reminds visitors of Opportunity Village's Magical Forest, it's because Torino is a former vice chairman of Opportunity Village who founded that Christmas tradition in the early 1990s. He donated the live trees still used for that display.
That Torino decided to build his new display in one of the poorest sections of the valley was no coincidence. With Christmas being the time to give to those most in need, Torino intends to make this an annual Yuletide display.
"There is nothing commercial about this," said Torino, whose project also includes a nativity scene with large stuffed animals, a large manger, a drummer boy mannequin and a baby Jesus.
"I wanted to do something special -- create a legacy -- for the residents of this area," Torino said. "They have been the backbone of Southern Nevada's growth. These families deserve to share in all of the benefits we all should be able to enjoy."
Zayra Garcia, 11, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, said she is eager for the display to open so that she, her mom and three sibblings can visit it.
"It is very pretty with so many lights on the trees," Garcia said. "We don't usually see so many Christmas lights in our neighborhood. It is so cool."
Her mother, Juana Garcia, said combining the nativity scene with the holiday's nonreligious features "is good for the tradition so that it (the primary reason for celebrating Christmas) does not die."
Devoe said of Torino: "In all of my years living in the neighborhood, nobody has made such an unselfish commitment to bettering the neighborhood.
"If you can make people happy at Christmas, then you are Santa Claus."
Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at [email protected].
archive
