Ronkonkoma Gingerbread House Show Will Go On, Socially Distanced

RONKONKOMA, NY —A local holiday landmark— "The Ronkonkoma Gingerbread House"—will continue its tradition in 2020. Peter Tomasello and Drew Jordan's elaborate Christmas decoration display at 135 North Huron St. was featured on the ABC competition show The Great Christmas Light Fight in 2017. Families have lined up to see the creative dioramas and interactive displays for years, and this year the couple will put social distancing measures in place.

On Facebook, the Tomasello family announced the displays will run again this year from December 1 to January 1.

"The Ronkonkoma Gingerbread House is an extremely difficult display to run under these unfortunate circumstances. We spent months trying to figure out a way to be as safe as possible and still deliver a unique and magical experience," the Facebook post explained.

To reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission in big crowds, the Tomasello family has created some changes to the long-running attraction: all visitors must wear masks, and how many people who can enter the property will be monitored.

Some of the interactive displays have been removed and only one family will be allowed to enter the backyard at a time.

"We are happy to announce three brand new scenes: a life-size mechanical cupcake assembly line, Sammy’s interactive candy factory, and a new scene featuring Minions. The back yard display has been completely redesigned and features the all new Sammy’s candy factory."

There may be longer than normal wait times, the family warns, because of the needed distancing. The home is open for visiting from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Peter Tomasello told Patch that he always wanted to have his own famous Long Island Christmas house.

"I’ve been infatuated with Christmas since i was about 12 years old. Two famous Long Island Christmas houses inspired me at that age. I basically wanted to be 'that house.'"

Tomasello says they get thousands of visitors each year.

"The community really loves the display we put out every year and they are very appreciative of what we do here," he said.

The family donates to the Nassau/Suffolk chapter of the Autism Society of America partly in honor of a close family friend with autism.

"We really feel the need to continue our display even through the pandemic. We have received tons of messages thanking us [for decorating this year] despite the difficult nature of a walk-through display."