Light festival set for another year

LANCASTER - It probably wouldn't be Christmas for some if they didn't pay a visit to the Collison's Festival of Lights, which will run from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.

"I couldn't imagine Christmas without it," Peggy Collison said.

She and her husband, Luke, have put on the huge display for about 18 years now. They started almost by accident when they hauled a 10-foot snowman from Branson, Missouri, back for their own personal use.

But their Christmas celebration got so big that 13,000 vehicles passed through it last year. Some of those vehicles were from out of state. Luke Collison he was once in another state and a man from Kentucky recognized him as the Christmas Light Guy.

"W'e've had people come here from New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, had some New Mexicos," he said. "A lot of them come into town and somebody told them about it. But then we have the ones who come back here every year to their family and this is their Christmas tradition. And you would not believe how many we have of that."

The display is on the Collisons' 33-acre property at 5601 Westfall Road SW and takes up about 10 acres. It will be open from about 5 to 10 p.m. each night and is free to visit. The Collisons do accept donations to help defray some of the costs, however.

"The cost to do this is not cheap," Luke Collison said. "Not cheap. It's expensive. It's expensive."

For example, one display that features a small girl with snowflakes hitting her costs $450.

He would not divulge the cost of putting on the Festival of Lights, but said it runs into the thousands of dollars. But he said the donation box basically covers the costs, including the electric bill.

The display has just about everything imaginable related to Christmas, including Santa Claus, trees, the original snowman from Missouri, a train display and much more.

"We try to cycle out things," Luke Collison said. "We take things out for a year and bring it back the next year. What it does is it confuses people. Because they come back and go, 'Oh man, look at all this new stuff.' And they forget about the old stuff. Then when you bring it back out the next year it's like, 'Oh, this is all brand new.'"

Steve Mock is the resident artist and makes about 90 percent of the plywood cutouts. He said he can make two or three a day if need be. Some of them will be new this year, including the Grinch, Spiderman, Superman, and the dalmatians from "101 Dalmatians." This year will also feature three new lighted animated displays, along with one display Luke Collison is keeping secret for now.

"Hopefully, it turns out the way we want it to turn out," he said. "If it does't we'll tear part of it down and just do the other. We're trying to make an effect that we have never tried before."

Luke Collison said he and Mock were trying to build a laser display, but that hasn't worked so far.

"If we don't sell, we stick around, we're going to investigate laser stuff quite a bit more," he said. "Technology. People are into technology and things you can add in the future would be great."

But the future is in doubt for the light festival itself because Luke and Peggy Collison's property has been on the market for about three years now as they are looking to sell.  But Luke Collison said he would hope someone would continue the festival of lights somewhere else in the county on some sort of scale. He said he is already looking at non-profit agencies to donate everything to.

"It's not going away," he said. "It will be here somewhere. But it's not going to be the same because they love the setting. The lake, everything and the whole nine yards. The tradition has to start all over again."

The Collisons, Mock and their family members started setting the huge display up in September.

"We're actually running behind right now," Luke Collison said a few weeks before Thanksgiving. "We need to pick up the pace. We always usually start at Fairfield County Fair time. But we knew we had so much to redo this year that we started actually in September."

Much of the work he referred to consists of refurbishing display pieces that have broken or need refinished because of the weather. About 25 percent of the display needs work each year.

"We try to do it in cycles," Luke Collison said. "The older stuff we redo and the new stuff we can go two or three years usually before we have to redo. But we redo a lot every year. And we recolor a lot. Instead of replacing the bulbs sometimes we actually repaint the bulbs. There's really nothing wrong with the bulbs, they've just lost their color."

The weather can also cause problems during the time the display is up. For example, while snow may add to the festive occasion, it makes the road through the display hazardous and can cover up some of the lights on the displays. Therefore, Luke Collison said he prefers the weather to be dry and warmer.

With anything as large as the light festival, there are problems. Luke Collison said vandalism can sometimes be an issue and some of the neighbors don't like the traffic issue it causes at times.

"We'll have cars actually half a mile down the road and inside of here they'll be bumper to bumper and we can't move them," he said.

Mock said about 2,000 cars went through last year on Christmas Eve. The Collisons use volunteers to help direct traffic into and through the property. Luke Collison said those driving through the display must follow the signs to make the experience run smoother.

"Look at signs," he said. "And they can go through as many times as they want to."

There are signs on the grounds that direct those who want to go through again where to go, so they don't have to leave the property and fight the traffic to get back in.

But Luke Collison said all the work and expense is worth it.

"It's a give-back," he said.

He said a man recently told him that he brings his blind wife through the display several times each year and explains what is going on as they drive by.

"This is her highlight of Christmas," Luke Collison said. "And he said, 'When you guys started dong the animated stuff with the music, it was just so much better.' Because she sits in the car and listens to the music and as he's talking to her she just never stops smiling."

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron