With a holiday display of wattage that lights up the sky around Kapolei, the Akee family is well known for its Christmas cheer.

And we do mean "cheer." As in, Heineken tree, anyone?

Of course there's a back story behind the tree, made of those distinctive green beer bottles: The first year the state began charging a 5-cent deposit, the family began saving their HI-5 bottles religiously. But then they discovered redemption of the bottles wasn't going to take place until January.

What to do with all those bottles? Christmas inspiration struck.

Stanley Akee, unofficial mayor of the Hanapa'a Street cul-de-sac, assures us that his family don't empty all those bottles themselves; the neighbors help.

Through the years, the tree evolved into a lighted tree, then a computer-whiz neighbor added music, so it morphed into a dancing-light tree.

"After Christmas, we recycle the bottles," Akee added.

The neighbors now make holiday decorations into an event, with a family-and-friends dinner before the big lighting ceremony (which coincides with the Honolulu City Lights gala).

The cul-de-sac draws gawkers from all over the Islands, but the guest book bears up to 1,500 names a year, from as far away as Canada, Japan and New Zealand. It's continued to grow, Akee said, from years when just about 1,000 people walked their way through Hanapa'a.

As for the Heineken?

"Everybody brings their own," Akee said.