SUMTER, S.C. — Sumter residents are lining up in their cars to drive by a Christmas display that’s been growing for nearly five decades.
“There's just something about Christmas lights. It come from when I was a little boy, the first time I ever plugged up a set of Christmas lights. When I plugged them lights up, it made me click as the fella says. It just lit me up,” lifetime Sumterite Charlie Dubose smiles. “It just thrills me to look at them.”
It’s why Dubose and his wife Susan have been collecting figurines and lights for 47 years, placing them outside his home.
“No matter what I do here, it’s coming from my heart,” Dubose shares. “That’s where it's coming from.”
Dubose says he starts setting up in September.
His display has been growing every year, covering his 10 acres and spreading Christmas cheer to residents who drive by and to Dubose’s neighbors like Ginny Miller.
“I mean, it's funny to watch the traffic coming in and out, in and out all the time.,” Miller details. “But it's alright.”
Miller says dealing with traffic near her home during the month of December is worth it to see the joy that Dubose spreads.
“Just everybody come by and enjoy,” Miller explains. “I mean it's a beautiful setup he has.”
“Some kids that come by here, when they see this,” Dubose says. “That is gonna be the only Christmas is what they see.”
Kids and adults can see the lights every night starting Thanksgiving.
On the weekends, there’s a special visitor.
Santa Claus comes to say hello to visitors and takes letters from them.
For Dubose, two things motivate him to bring back the display every holiday season.
“Giving them joy and telling them about Christ,” Dubose says. “That's the main thing: that Jesus loves them. That's what I tell them.”
You can see those lights from 5:30 to 9 p.m. every weekday at 115 Gaddy Ct. On weekends, they stay on until 10 p.m.