Niwot's Largest Annual Holiday Light Show dazzled for the last time

Nearly four decades of holiday joy and delight came to an end Jan. 6 when Chuck Rodgers switched off his holiday lights for the last time. For all of its challenges, Rodgers’ light display for charity at the top of the hill on 79th Street between Lookout Road and Highway 52 has continued to be a labor of love, and this final year, at the culmination of its colossal size, it also hit a record amount of donations for Longmont Meals on Wheels (LMOW).

Donations of $32,400 and 277 pounds of food were collected by Rodgers for LMOW, a non-profit organization providing meals to those in need, allowing recipients to live independently with dignity. Last year, $21,000 was raised along with donations of 262 pounds of food.

The cash raised this year was a 50/50 combination of companies pitching in because they support Rodgers’ efforts and donations individuals made online or as they drove through the display. One hundred dollar bills, along with $1 bills were both common in the donation boxes this year, Rodgers said.

Mother Nature was much kinder to Rodgers than last year, but it’s not lulling him into changing his mind about discontinuing the sizable display. The massive drive-through light show on his property will either not exist next year, or will be closer to a quarter or a third of its present size.

“The boss thinks I should quit,” Rodgers said. “The boss” is his wife, and Rodgers said the thought of being in a warm climate during the winter months is very appealing to both of them

Even when all goes well, each night Rodgers is out replacing lights, switching things off and on, deflating displays, and doing maintenance for a minimum of two hours.This, combined with the many weeks of set up and more weeks of clean up, makes the show an intensive exercise of patience, know-how, stick-to-itiveness, and physical work.

Over the years some misguided drivers went against traffic or ran over displays, while other folks wandered on foot with reckless abandon amongst the power cords and riggings to get photos. But for all of the human fallibility, there was never a malicious act committed against the stars of the show: the inflatable characters, scenes with Santa and reindeers, strings of lights, and lit-up words.

“If I do anything, it will be a modified version just in front of the house,” Rodgers said about the upcoming holiday season. Or it’s possible the Rodgers will spend the winter somewhere else, especially since one of their daughters is moving to Florida, in which case it would be lights out next Christmas.

When asked what words he’d like to share as he wraps up this era of his life, Rodgers said, “The main thing is thanking everybody who always came by, put money in, and trusted me that I got it to where I said I was taking it.”

LMOW Development and Communications Director, Katie Wiser shared her thoughts on Rodgers’ many years of raising money for the organization. “He’s one of the most generous, kind-hearted men you’ll meet,” Wiser said. “It is very important to him that this is his gift to Longmont Meals on Wheels and it’s important to him that he does as much of it himself as possible. He doesn’t want to put a burden on us.”

To that end Wiser said Rodgers is a phenomenal one person fundraiser who finds business sponsors, spreads the word, creates floats for local parades carrying the LMOW banner and ultimately inspires others to support their local nonprofits in a way that organizations are unable to do on their own. Wiser estimates that over the years Rodgers has brought the organization more than $100,000 of contributions from his holiday light shows.

Rodgers is in constant motion this time of year, taking things down and trying to beat the predicted snow. So it’s only fitting that a motion-activated Santa got the last word as he went about his work with a hearty, “Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!”

For more information about Longmont Meals on Wheels visit https://www.longmontmeals.org/.