Throwback Thursday - 5 Boise Light Shows from Christmas Past
Do you remember any of these displays? Or are you too new of a transplant? 😂
I’ve been running the Boise Christmas Lights Project for 10 years now, so I’ve been able to see a lot of displays come and go. Sometimes, decorators to take some time off or hang up the lights for good once they get really popular. Given how much the valley has grown over the last few years, I bet a lot of readers don’t know about these displays. So here are five of them that you may or may not remember.
Christmas on Saratoga in Nampa - Last Seen in 2015
This was one of the first Christmas light shows I ever got to see while doing this project. I saw their show in 2015, and it was absolutely magical. The house was large and had a lot of props and lights set to music. The large lot across the street hadn’t been developed yet, so you could park on the dirt lot and face the house. There would regularly be several cars parked there to watch the show.
McCoy Christmas in Boise - Last Seen in 2016
I saw this show for the first time in 2016 and I loved it. The attention to detail was really impressive for this light show. They did a great job of color coordinating their lights to give a “striped” look, and they had a nice big tree in their front yard all lit up as well. The show was located near the HP campus off Five Mile and McMillan in west Boise, which made it a good central location for people all over the county to come by and watch.
The Cadger Christmas Light Show - Last Seen in 2015
This was probably the first display that went super “viral” in Boise, and for good reason! Long time Boise residents will remember the Cadger Christmas Light Show. They had a home in Meridian with tons of lights that danced to the music. Their display was even featured on ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight in 2015 (season 3, episode 1). Their YouTube page has videos of their show from as far back as 2006. Their show got so popular that they actually ended up moving it to a church off Fairview and Cloverdale for a season, but that church has since been torn down to build apartments. After 2015, I had multiple people asking me what happened to the Cadgers, but they’ve seemingly hung up the lights for good.
The Shannon’s Light Show - Last Seen in 2018
The Shannon’s Light Show was a long time favorite for Christmas light watchers. Their home in Meridian was in a good location and there would regularly be a long line of cars down the street, waiting to see their lights on a Friday or Saturday night. The Shannon’s are good friends of mine and I still keep in contact with them (they keep saying they miss running the light show… maybe they’ll come back?). In fact, they helped manage the BCL project in 2020 after I moved to Texas and had to focus on my new job that year. They’ve always been big supporters of the project.
Lights on Woods End - Last Seen in 2021
This show in Southeast Boise was beloved by many people. I remember that many cars would be parked in the cul-de-sac to enjoy the magical display set to all sorts of popular Christmas songs. They regularly accepted donations for organizations such as Toys for Tots at their home. You can see an archive of their shows on YouTube. They ended up moving out of Boise. They are missed greatly and I hope they are doing well.
Why do decorators stop running Christmas Light Shows?
There are multiple reasons, and they’re perfectly valid ones. Here are some common ones:
People move out of their homes. I’m not gonna throw California shade here (CA refugees are welcome in my books), but let’s be honest - a LOT of long time Idaho residents have packed their bags and sold their homes while the market was red hot. Boise today is vastly different from what it was when I started this project just 10 years ago.
The displays get too popular. At first glance, you may not think this is a bad thing. But sometimes it causes conflicts with neighbors, mostly traffic related. Things like blocked driveways and congested neighborhood streets can be annoying. Some display owners try to smooth things over and get the blessing from their neighbors in advance, schmoozing them with gifts (and sometimes booze to help with the headache). Sometimes, people decorate for the season and ask me not to put them on the map, because they want to decorate, but don’t want all the traffic. We honor these requests.
People get burned out. Decorating your home and setting up a light show takes a TON of time and effort. Things can go wrong, people can fall off roofs, and they are usually working a full time job on top of all this. Sometimes, they just need to take a year off to focus on family or their own health. That is perfectly normal and acceptable. We all should be thankful for their efforts and respect their desire to take a break.
There are other reasons of course. At the end of the day, I have gained a sincere respect for decorators and their efforts. While I love to see them set up their lights, they are always welcome to take a break or hang up the lights. Family and personal health is very important, we’re all human after all.
Thank you to all the decorators out there who have brought some light into people’s lives!