DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – One home in De Pere is lighting up the community in more ways than one.
Jeff and Lauri Govin string up hundreds of lights and displays in their yard every year for visitors to admire, all while collecting donations for charity.
“For them, this is still life. We want to make the best of it and give them still those good Christmas memories that bring them joy but it also makes us so happy to see them enjoying that,” a visitor says about her children standing nearby.
Jeff and Lauri Govin started placing holiday fixtures in their yard at Alpine and County Road E in De Pere about 15 years ago.
What started as a small collection grew to be much more.
“Now I’m over 1600 so it’s come a long ways, a really long ways. But the smile on peoples’ faces, that’s all what it’s about,” Jeff Govin said.
“It’s amazing. It’s really worth it to have your butt freezing, to freeze your butt off.”
The smiles don’t stop there.
Not only do the lights bring joy to the community, they also bring an opportunity to give back to others.
Lauri Govin tells FOX 11 all the donation left at the front of the display go to charity.
“Part of what we do with the money is we make tie blankets and we deliver them on Christmas Day as a family to the Children’s Hospital.”
She says the feeling is priceless.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling of just being able to put a smile on their face in such a difficult time.”
Many of the fixtures on display were donated to the collection over the years from well wishers.
As for the cost to light it all up, Lauri Govin says her husband doesn’t even know that.
They do say they consider their yard and all of its treasures to be a donation to the community.
“It’s worth every penny,” Jeff Govin said.
Along with scavenger hunt maps, the Govin’s have a donation bucket placed at the front of their light display.
It stays lit until around 10 o’clock each night.
Comments