If Thanksgiving time represents something other than turkey, pumpkin pie or family gatherings — it marks what is the beginning of a favorite holiday tradition for many.

It’s time for Christmas lights. Or holiday lights, if that’s what some call it.

Many don’t know that a Denver resident started what’s become a staple for many during the holiday season. 

Denver is known as the birthplace of colored lights for outdoor winter holiday displays. The tradition began as a “lightbulb moment” for David Dwight Sturgeon, a Denver electrician. In 1914, he dipped light bulbs in red and green paint and strung them in a tree outside his family’s home to delight his ill son, who was stuck at home. Sturgeon Electric is still a thriving company in Denver, 110 years later.

For those who don’t intend to be a Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation” movie falling off his roof installing Christmas lights and electrocuting himself — there are alternatives to do-it-yourself holiday light displays in metro Denver and beyond.

Across Denver, signs are posted for holiday light installation services on many neighborhood corners.

One local holiday light installation service said their services are in high demand, especially with the shorter lighting season that typically runs from after Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day as Thanksgiving came a week later than “normal.”

Denver Christmas Light Installers, a family-owned light installation company, offers holiday light installations for homes and commercial properties.

Dawn Young, who owns the light installation company, said despite being a year-round service, light installation is at its highest demand during the holiday season.

“It’s a luxury service for sure,” Young said. “We don’t get a lot of calls for, like, Halloween lights. Occasionally, we’ll get one or two, but we start our installations in October for Christmas lights.”

So far this season, Denver Christmas Light Installers has received more than 500 holiday light installation requests, according to Young.

Light installation services can range from $500 to $40,000, depending on the size of the project or house.

The process begins with a request for an installation quote, creating a design, then putting up the lights.

One of Denver Christmas Light Installer’s projects includes the Governor’s Mansion in Capitol Hill with lights, Young said.

Denver Christmas Lights Installers serves households in all seven counties surround the metro Denver area.

Young said she entered the light installation business while being a surgery nurse in the medical field.

“I was just really motivated to make sure we’re there at every party, and now we’re able to,” Young said of offering light installation services.

“During the Christmas season, we would actually have an uptick in parallelization as well as spinal surgeries,” Young said. “People would fall off their roof trying to put lights up, and we have roofers and people who go through specialty training on how to walk over roofs, and ladder training and everything like that, just to make sure everybody’s being safe.”

Readers can submit the best light displays they see to City Editor Dennis Huspeni, dennis.huspeni@gazette.com, and the The Denver Gazette will share the sites with readers.