01/06/2026
Hi everyone. January 5, very long last post for the season, then I'll leave you alone until November!
We had "our" Christmas these past couple of days, rested a little, then started taking the display down today. I've been reflecting on the show season, figured I'd wrap it up with a few tidbits.
Average daily FB page views, December 1-21: 349
Views December 22: 6,245
Views December 23: 113,327
Views December 24: 67,505
Average daily, December 25-31: 7,617
Total views as of January 1: 247,003 (11,959% increase)
Page followers in November: 50 (from 2024 show)
Today: 2,547
We're honored by everyone's response. Anything can go viral, I guess, but we never expected such a spike. Your enthusiasm and excitement, your moving personal stories, your expressions of thanks...all went far beyond anything we could have imagined. The one thing that will always stand foremost in my memory is finding, in our front yard on Viral Night, between 1,000 and 1,500 (best guess) perfectly well behaved, pleasant, friendly, patient, considerate people--actually liking something I'd done. I will always have a "video" in my head of all of you who thanked us as you drove out that night.
Having said that, we never want the show to be about us, but rather about you, and in the future, more about the good we can all do. I hope we can keep you all happy for as long as we can mount the show. I heard the word "magical" so many times. We'll try to keep it that way. We hope you all come see it again--but not all on the same night!
You might have seen a recent news piece about a family in the northeast who won an episode of Great Christmas Light Fight. Their viral crowds included several people who threatened them and/or their traffic volunteers with physical violence, apparently because traffic was gridlocked. I love, love, love that the response here was so universally positive.
Speaking of Light Fight, no, we have no intention of ever becoming involved. It strikes us as wrong to think about the Christmas celebration being any kind of competition, or being something deserving of a huge cash prize. Nor do we want such crowds that it stops being peaceful, fun, and pleasant for everyone. The focus belongs foremost on the birth of Christ. Not only did Charlie Brown dislike Christmas commercialism 60 years ago, not to mention Alfred at Macy's in 1947, but so did my mother! (She refused to buy an aluminum tree.)
Yes, a big prize would finance a lot of charitable giving, but if we all pitch in, we can still produce results. If the show averaged 100 guests per night over a 37-day season, and every person could directly donate $20 to local charities, it would total $74,000. That's an unrealistic expectation, but it might reach half that. It's worth some thought.
In the meantime, if you're so inclined, you might start the ball rolling by visiting one or more of these sites. They all need our help:
https://www.pathhelps.org/ways-to-give/
https://bethesdaclinic.org/
https://cuabtyler.org/donations/
https://www.easttexasfoodbank.org/?form=donatenow
Thanks again for all that *you* did for us. We hope your lives are filled with blessings this year.
Mr. and Mrs. Lightingupflint
