Holiday lights illuminated a full display of generosity

For 35 years Chuck Rodgers has delighted the community with his all-out dazzling holiday light display. Installing the magnificent light show that grows a bit each year, tending to it for weeks while it's open to drive-through viewing, and the couple of weeks it takes to gently dismantle and stow away the display never gets easier. But the legacy of the phenom that is Rodgers' holiday extravaganza just gets mightier and mightier each year, because of the generous financial impact it provides for Longmont's Meals on Wheels (LMOW).

"Chuck and his family have been longtime supporters and we feel blessed that Chuck has chosen LMOW as the charity that benefits from all his hard work," Karla Hale, executive director of LMOW said. "The light exhibit has turned into a lucrative event for our organization and helps feed individuals who cannot provide for themselves."

"Taking it down is a lot easier than going up," Rodgers said as he faced one more week of removing each display, "because I don't repair anything when I bring it down. I mark the stuff that needs to be fixed."

During next year's set up, he'll be repairing, replacing, and rewiring. In the past, when he refurbished items before putting them away, somehow they weren't always ready to go at the holiday season. "The summer gremlins are ruthless," Rodgers said.

The damage comes from the elements, the age of some items, and humans. Maybe, once they're in the midst of the party that is the display, some drivers are a little too enthralled by the beauty and whimsy because each year things are run over as drivers go off course.

Rodgers has a system for uninstalling the lights; the large displays, which are more at risk when the weather turns nasty, come down first to avoid further potential damage. When asked if there were any challenges this year, Rodgers replied, "The wind and the wind and the wind... It wasn't so bad that I couldn't handle it, but every wind storm broke something."

Case in point, the large star in the field was badly damaged this year when its pole snapped in two places. That was the day of the Marshall Fire, which he could see well from his house.

Up until that day, donations were coming in nicely, but Rodgers said, "It's like that windstorm and the fire sucked everything out of everybody." Donations and people coming to see the display came to an abrupt halt.

Last year's giving was a couple thousand dollars higher, but Rodgers said, "With inflation and everybody being so sick and tired of Covid, I was so happy." In fact, Rodgers and his wife contracted Covid in October shortly before the time he usually starts setting up the display.

This year, the sixth year that the light display has been a fundraiser, concluded with $18,975 and 226 pounds of food being collected. Rodgers added another $25 to the pot to bring it to a grand total of $19,000.

Hale said, "We thank Chuck and the generous individuals and businesses that support the event, for their generosity and for sharing this event with others. No words can express how much the holiday light exhibit means to our organization."