Christmas is the season for giving, some say. For some individuals like Chuck Rodgers, the act of giving around Christmas is just a perk of doing what he loves.
Rodgers began the tradition of putting on an annual Christmas light show outside of his Niwot home 37 years ago. In the beginning he simply hung the lights to entertain his children. He also found that he enjoyed the simple act of setting up his holiday displays.
His displays started with only a few lights strung over the house and have grown into a show that now takes drivers five to 10 minutes to cruise through. It became a drive thru crowd-pleaser, he explained.
Six years ago, Rodgers was watching the Great Christmas Light Fight, a television show which features the holiday home transformations of American families across the nation., During the show he noticed one candidate had put a donation box in front of their light display to collect money for charity, he said. The idea inspired him to incorporate charity donations into his own light show.
While pondering which charity he would like to donate to, Rodgers was reminded of Meals on Wheels, a local charity that his father was heavily involved in throughout his life.
Rodgers’ father drove and delivered meals for Meals on Wheels for a long time, Rodgers said. When he got to the point that he was no longer able to drive, he would donate money to the charity every year in lieu of driving for them.
Rodgers’ recognized his father’s dedication to the charity while he was alive, however, “I never really asked him how he got involved with them,” he said. “But, knowing my dad, he probably knew people that (Meals on Wheels) helped and thought that would be a good way he could help out.”
After choosing the right charity, Rodgers grew the show. “The show got a little bigger and we collected more money,” Rodgers said.
At 62-years-old, Rodgers still does most of the work on the light show himself with the occasional hand from one of his children or grandchildren, he said. The whole production process takes him about four and a half weeks to set up.
Today, Rodgers’ Christmas light show continues to happen each year outside his home located at 5980 North 79th Street. This year, the light show is open to community members every evening between 5:30 and 9 p.m. The show will go on every night until January 9.
Rodgers’ light show features an abundance of bright and cheerful attractions including blown-up versions of nativity scenes, candles, drummer boys, toy soldiers, the Grinch, a dinosaur, cousin Eddy from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, multiple Santa Clauses, a snowman village and more.
“I set up all my displays and lights so people can drive through really slow and look,” Rodgers said. “They come up to the house and look at the lights, go back around and go out the opposite way they came in.
Although he’s never kept track of how many people come through the light show, more people have been showing up in recent years, he said. Last year, the light show had its best year ever, both in terms of turnout and donations received – $21,860 and 610 pounds of food were collected during the 2020 light show round, according to Rodgers.
In his mind, the high success rate of last year’s light show had to do with the pandemic.
The amount of money raised last year is about $15,000 more than what Rodgers expects to make any other year, including this year. “Prior to 2020, we were in the $8,000 to $9,000 range and I’m kind of thinking we’ll be back to that this year,” he said. “COVID is not keeping everyone inside with nothing to do anymore.”
So far this year, the light show, which debuted on December 1, has generated almost $5,000. “So we’re doing okay,” Rodgers said. “Every dollar helps and we’ll take whatever people want to donate.”
All of the money collected from the light show goes to Meals on Wheels, Rodgers said. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable leaving cash in one of the donation boxes at the light show, there are sheets pinned up on some of the attractions with QR codes that will take someone to the Meals on Wheels website for donations.
“(Attendees) can come and not donate at all and that’s okay too,” Rodgers said. “I understand that we’re sometimes not in a position to give …If you can give that’s great, if not, you can still come through and enjoy the lights.”
After 37 years of producing this labor of love, Rodgers is “getting close to thinking about slowing down on it,” he said. “But I think I still have a few years left in me.”
“Prior to collecting money, it was solely for enjoyment,” Rodgers said, “but it still is for enjoyment. I would probably still be doing it even if people weren’t donating money. But now people can share their enjoyment of the lights and (spare) a little donation to give back to Meals on Wheels.”
