Patrick Mach harbored a Texas-sized dream to compete on ABC’s The Nice Christmas Gentle Battle. When he lastly acquired the decision, he constructed Texas. The Mach Christmas Show — a large, walk-through attraction within the North Texas city of Ennis — will compete on the hit actuality competitors on Thursday, December 19.
They’ll battle towards three different households across the nation for $50,000, a trophy, and severe bragging rights.
“It’s a bucket-list merchandise to be on the present,” Mach says. “I’ve at all times wished to be on since season one.” (The present is now in season 12.)
The Mach household — Patrick and spouse Natasha and their 4 youngsters, Natalie (17), Ethan (16), Noelle (12), and Brandon (11) — all pitched in to create the show and can seem on the present.
The household lives on a “mini-ranch” within the Ennis-Alma space, about 40 minutes south of Dallas. (Ennis is legendary for its Bluebonnet Trails within the spring.) Three-and-a-half acres of their 10-acre property are taken over by their Christmas lights extravaganza every vacation season. It even has its personal electrical meter.
“Texas” makes use of half-a-million lights, 200 inflatables, and custom-built items to depict 40 cities and cities throughout the Lone Star State (although not truly within the form of Texas). Every is marked with a inexperienced city-limits signal and has a vignette that represents the town.
San Antonio has an enormous, 8-foot-tall Alamo outlined in lights and a River Stroll bridge crossing a blue river. “Area Metropolis” Houston has rockets and Buzz Lightyear, and “Stay Music Capital” Austin has a guitar with strings that “play.” (A {custom} Texas Capitol constructing will likely be constructed for subsequent yr’s show.)
The Fort Value part nods to Texas Motor Speedway and the Fort Value Herd.Photograph courtesy of ABC
Fort Value will get longhorns and a Texas Motor Speedway-inspired racetrack, full with “Lightning McQueen” and “Tow Mater” Disney/Pixar characters. Dallas includes a {custom} wireframe define of the skyline, plus Dallas Cowboys inflatables and a complete part dedicated to the State Honest.
The smaller Texas city shows are simply as artistic: Glen Rose has dinosaurs, School Station has Texas A&M-inspired army drummers, New Braunfels has a polar bear floating the river, and Ennis, after all, has bluebonnets.
The Glen Rose part has dinosaurs.Photograph courtesy of ABC
In a nod toThe Nice Christmas Gentle Battle host Carter Oosterhouse, they added Carter, Texas — sure, an precise city in Parker County — only for the present. It included a mural of Oosterhouse using a bull. The host, Mach says, was impressed.
Love of ChristmasThe Machs’ drive to gentle up a Texas-sized spectacle comes from their deep love of Christmas. Patrick and Natasha met on a relationship app when she “hearted” his Christmas-y picture. On considered one of their first dates, in the course of the pandemic, they watched a Nice Christmas Gentle Battle marathon. He proposed to her on his Christmas lights show at house. They married in a Christmas-themed marriage ceremony three years in the past, and Santa even confirmed up.
Patrick Mach had grown up loving Christmas and placing up shows along with his father, from whom he discovered carpentry. His dad gifted him an old school blow-mold nativity scene in 2004; he then handed away on December 30, 2006.
“So since he handed so near Christmas, yearly I did a little bit extra to maintain thoughts off what occurred … then it simply turned so huge,” Mach says.
In reality, Mach had been nominated for the Gentle Fightevery yr since 2019. He by no means thought he was prepared.
“It took a number of years to commit,” he says, “then 2023 got here round and we mentioned, ‘Let’s go.’”
The household came upon they’d made the present in September 2023. Filming would happen round Thanksgiving. Every member of the household, plus a military of buddies, labored from a “battle plan” to design and construct the show, which might be vastly expanded for the present.
“From 2022 to 2023, we doubled the show,” he says. “It was all fingers on deck. We had been nonetheless engaged on it the day they confirmed up (to movie).”
The shoot lasted a number of days and was an “superior expertise,” Mach says. The crew turned like household.
“Behind the scenes we had been at all times slicing up, laughing, the youngsters made buddies with the producers,” he says. “We nonetheless textual content message with the producers once in a while, and one digital camera man introduced us a Christmas show merchandise that he doesn’t use and wished to go to a superb household.”
Two issues that stunned him behind the scenes: how strict they had been about utilizing copyrighted characters and pictures (no Grinches allowed) and the way tiring the filming was.
“After we filmed, I slept the very best I would slept in months,” he jokes.
The Mach household with Nice Christmas Gentle Battle host Carter Oosterhouse.Photograph courtesy of Patrick Mach
He stays tight-lipped concerning the consequence of the present. But when the household does win, he’d wish to put the $50,000 towards a well-deserved trip. They’re the fourth Texas contenders on this season of Gentle Battle; to date, none has been victorious.
See it in personWin or lose, the Mach Christmas Show will stay on for the general public to stroll by and luxuriate in on choose nights by the vacations. (Watch their Fb web page for the schedule.) There’s no cost to see it, however they do acquire donations for native charities comparable to Toys for Tots, Serving to Arms of Ennis, and the SPCA.
It may be a little bit difficult to search out, and GPS doesn’t at all times path to the suitable place, in order that they advise guests to make use of the pin they’ve dropped on Google Maps.
Though the Machs have attracted guests from a number of hours away, they continue to be centered on sharing their love of Christmas with their group.
“Ennis is a smaller city, and that is our approach of giving again to the group,” Mach says, “of giving households one thing to do across the holidays as a result of there’s nothing round right here like this.”
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The Machs’ episode of The Nice Christmas Gentle Battle will air at 7 pm Thursday, December 19 on ABC and will likely be accessible to stream on Hulu the subsequent day. The Mach Christmas Show is open on choose nights by the vacation season; comply with their Fb web page for the schedule and extra info. The deal with is 171 FM1183, Ennis, 75119. Observe the instructions on the pin on Google Maps. For lists of Fort Value’s greatest Christmas lights, go right here and right here.
