Clarion Christmas Lights for a Cause

For the sixth year in a row, Tom Frantz and his family have put together a Christmas lights show synched to music. Located at 210 1st St NW in Clarion, the show has taken on a charitable aspect with donations collected for Wright County Hospice. The Frantz family calls the show “Clarion Christmas Lights for a Cause.”

“It’s a family thing, not just one or two of us,” Frantz said. Though he and his oldest son, Tyler, do the wiring and programming, his two younger sons recorded an introduction to the show and the whole family picks out songs. “Everybody has a part.”

Frantz is a veteran who served in Iraq during Christmas in both 2007 and 2008. When he was home in 2009, he and his wife decided to go out and look at Christmas lights. After seeing a large light show in Plymouth, Minnesota, Frantz turned to his wife and said, “You know what, I’m going to do that.”

The idea lasted a whole year. Frantz got in touch with the man who had done the show in Plymouth for advice, and in 2010, put together his first light show. “Ever since, we’ve been getting a little bigger each year,” he said.

For the full story, see the December 17 edition of the Monitor.