A home in Granby, known for its over-the-top and exciting light display, almost had to turn the lights off permanently due to rising electric costs and a labor intensive set up.
That's until the small town stepped in to help.
The display, which is located along Route 20 between Granby and West Granby, has already come down for the year. The owner said it's to protect the lights for future years.
It’s been a staple along West Granby Road for 30 years, according to the owner, and at least for the foreseeable future, it’s here to stay.
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“It started with lights on this group of bushes right here,” John Ridel said while showing us the few bushes in front of his home.
It’s been steadily growing for three decades - climbing trees, the house and hand-built structures.
“It’s grown to the point there aren’t really any bushes to put lights on,” Ridel said.
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This year, the display had thousands of lights, a mile of cords, creating an unmistakable spectacle.
“Thirty foot spruce trees, 40-foot spruce trees, still have to have lights on them, never expected it to get that big,” Ridel said.
He started it before his daughter was born, but since then, it has really boomed.
She loves it, so he had a reason to keep it growing, adding in hand-painted figures, and of course, additional lights.
“People would stop, total strangers would grab my number off the side of the house and send Christmas cards, people would drop off cookies,” he said.
Until, as this year was coming to a close, Ridel had to make what he called a heartbreaking decision.
Soaring electric costs left him with a bill of $500 just two days after Christmas. That bill didn’t account for two-thirds of the display, which he had running off generators to cut the cost down.
He said when he did the math, he determined it would be cheaper to run the display the few hours a day the lights are on off generators, instead of hooking it into the house. But that cost still remained too high.
He estimates had he not run “off grid” power, the display would have cost him $1,500 in a month.
“That’s when I made the decision, I can’t do this anymore,” Ridel said.
He went to the Granby forum on Facebook with his decision where the announcement was met with disappointment, and then, offers of solution.
“I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say, I actually got a lump in my throat when I started reading all the comments,” Ridel said.
The community rallied instantly with offers of support, both as volunteers for future set-up and monetary donations. Ridel had to set up a Venmo account to collect offerings from neighbors.
He said he can't express his thanks adequately to those who want to support his effort.
He noted any remaining balance after the electric bill is paid for the lights, he plans to donate to a worthy charity.
“I didn’t realize how much it meant to everybody,” he said.
The lights are here to stay, at least for a bit. A lesson of community to start 2025.
“It’s no longer my lights, it's everybody’s lights. The whole community rallied to keep this going and it was totally overwhelming,” he said.
Ridel learned that sometimes, it takes a village to keep the lights on.
“If it makes everyone happy, then I’m happy because that’s the whole reason I started it,” Ridel said.
