Thousands Thrilled By Farm's X-mas Display

Thousands Thrilled by Farm's X-mas Display AG WORLD Ag World 16-6-17 "We started in the 50's with a few lighted characters and it just continued to grow," says Paul Mullins, Ingraham, Ill., about his family's incredible Christmas display that now consists of more than 80,000 lights and hundreds of displays covering over 4 acres. Each year the Mullins kept adding to the display until in 1970 they decided to invite the public to visit. The first year they had 3,500 visitors. Now they welcome over 60,000 visitors a year and they continue to expand the display, which now takes more than 650 man hours to set up. They start setting up the display at the end of October and open to the public the day after Thanksgiving, continuing until the fast weekend after Christmas. They're open from dusk to 10 p.m. Silos, barns, windmills and other structures are outlined with lights and just about every Christmas theme is shown somewhere on the farm. Elves work outside Santa's Workshop. A near life-sized nativity scene sets in a field with a 3-dimensional Bethlehem on the horizon. 'Reindeer pull Santa's sleigh at one end of the display, and at the other a one-horse open sleigh is ready to go dashing through the snow. The barnyard is a 3-ring circus of fun with dancing ballerinas and prancing horses. The Statue of Liberty proudly surveys the show. A more modern Santa is ready to take off on deliveries in a huge red airplane. Dozens of cartoon characters seem frozen in play on a Disneyland stage lit by flood-lights and huge stuffed animals endlessly ride a large model train and a running ferris wheel. Everything is outlined in lights. To power the display, the local power company set up 4 extra transformers along the road by the farm. Paul Mullins won't say how much it costs to operate the display each year but they did decide last year for the first time to ask for a $1 a head donation to help cover costs. They also sell popcorn and souvenirs to guests who warm them-selves by a huge bonfire while they admire the display. Mullins says he plans to use any money made above and beyond the cost of operating the display to buy more displays and lights to improve the display even further. Last year they improved access to the display by building a parking lot across the road from the farm. Visitors from 40 states and 16 foreign countries have stopped by to visit. "Some world travelers have told us they've never seen anything like it anywhere in the world," says Mullins. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Mullins, Rt.1, Box 33, Ingraham, Ill. 62434 (ph 618 752-2460).

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