This story was originally published by the Ledger-Enquirer.
For decades, it’s been considered the largest and most popular Christmas lights display at a Columbus home, raising more than $200,000 for charity.
And for the past few years, Jerry Ludy has mulled whether to keep this labor of love going while keeping his full-time job as a manager for Univar Solutions at the Kia Motors plant in West Point.
“But he just can’t stay away,” his daughter, Julie Hedges told the Ledger-Enquirer. “He has an addiction to Christmas.”
So, yes, Columbus, there is a Ludy’s Christmas Lights Spectacular this year. But it’s the final one, Ludy said.
“This will be my last year,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It takes so much to put this together. We’re going to try to do all we can to bring out a big display this year and put a smile on their faces.”
Ludy, 69, mentioned cost, time, effort and age as reasons he plans to discontinue the display.
“We’ll just get through the season and see how things work out,” he said.
The final season
Open every night, 6 to 9:30 p.m., from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, the display is free for folks to watch at at 5784 Ironstone Drive, but Ludy welcomes donations this year as a fundraiser for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The event raised $205,620.51 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation from 2007-2022, said Hedges, a professional photographer.
Credit: Julie E. Hedges/JE Hedges Photography
Credit: Julie E. Hedges/JE Hedges Photography
Ludy’s display started in 1995 and grew to approximately 500,000 lights in 2021 after taking a break in 2020.
Last year, he drastically scaled down the display — and a storm destroyed his 30-foot-tall Ferris wheel, which has eight seats for stuffed animals to ride.
Reflecting on last year’s display and the negative reaction from some visitors, Ludy said, “I really disappointed myself. … People didn’t see what they expected to see. I felt like I let them down.”
So he boosted the size of the display this year. It’s not as big as 2021, when it included three houses across the street, but it stretches to a next-door neighbor’s house.
Along with the rebuilt Ferris wheel, this year’s display has approximately 200,000 lights, connected by about 3,000 feet of extension cords, Ludy said.
And the lights still are synced to blink in rhythm with the holiday music he broadcasts on 90.1 FM.
‘I put my heart and soul in it’
Worried about his safety, Hedges is glad her father moved to the ground one of the displays he normally puts on the roof. But she admits she can’t contain his Christmas spirit.
“His doctor tells him he’s got the body of a 25-year-old,” she said. “He just goes and goes and goes.”
Ludy admits, however, his age is catching up with him.
“I’ve come to know what my capabilities are,” he said. “I’m not feeble. I’m very capable of jumping on that roof. But I’ve been very blessed all these years not to have any severe injuries from it — even though I fell off the roof a few years ago and knocked myself out. It’s just that I know at some point I’ve got to stop, and I don’t want it to be because I made a mistake. I know I’m not as stable as I used to be. This is the time that God is telling me.”
Ludy would rather end this tradition while it’s still a joy rather than continue it for too long. If he can’t present the display in a big way to live up to the “Spectacular” title, then he doesn’t want to do it at all.
“You don’t want to run that race to come in third,” he said. “When I do this display, I put my heart and soul in it. I want it to be the best display that people can see. I want them to say, ‘Wow!’”
Hedges is grateful her brother, Keith, who works for Aflac, helps their father construct the display. Starting in the summer, they devote weekday evenings and most of the day during weekends to the project, she said.
“If it wasn’t for my brother,” she said, “my dad wouldn’t be able to get it done.”
Ludy estimated it takes 40 hours per week to prepare the display each year. During the early years, he said, the Christmas lights added $600-$800 to his December electric bill. Using LED lights in recent years has dimmed that jolt, he said, but the display still costs him $3,000-$4,000 per year.
And yet, the impact it makes is priceless.
“Being able to share it,” he said. “It’s a blessing to me.”
Origin of Ludy’s Christmas Lights Spectacular
Ludy recalled, as a child, his mother gave him a set of Christmas lights.
“It had maybe 10 bulbs on the string,” he said, “but it really inspired me to do something.”
The display he made with those lights on their front yard was tiny. The significance was huge.
“All the neighbors raved over it,” he said. “It brought so much spirit to them, and it really impacted me.
“From that point on, it was just a joy in my life to try to bring a smile and that same joy I received to other people because I know what it meant to me. It brings a smile upon my heart. If I can create a memory that will last a lifetime, that is something that really brings joy to me.”
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
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