Ludy’s Christmas

Christmas is a season of magic and wonder, a time to slow down and pause to create memories with loved ones and lean into the camaraderie of celebration.

Christmas light displays have long been a favorite way to enjoy the season, inviting onlookers to experience the thrill of bright colors and familiar scenes. And if you’ve been around the Chattahoochee Valley for long, you probably know one of the best spots to find breathtaking lights in the area is at Ludy’s Christmas Spectacular.

As a boy, Jerry Ludy’s mom gave him a set of lights, which he turned into a Santa display using decorated paper bags. “All the neighbors marveled over it,” he recalls. “From that point I just wanted to impress everybody every year.”

And that’s just what he did. Each year Jerry would create a different Christmas display, and when he got married, he and his wife made a pact: she would tackle the indoor decorations while Jerry would use his skills to light up their home’s exterior. “That’s the way it’s been for 51 years,” he says.

Year after year, Christmas was Jerry Ludy’s time to shine, and it wasn’t long before word got out about his stunning light show. Jerry has been creating Christmas displays since he was a child, but he and his wife have been at their current location, the one we’ve all come to know and love, for twenty-five years.

Over the years, Jerry’s displays have grown and evolved as they became more and more famous around town. The delight of passersby encouraged him to continue each year as he found purpose and fulfillment in bringing Christmas cheer to the community. Jerry changes up the displays most years, adding new features to ensure that visitors are captivated by the show.

“I love building wireframes,” Jerry says. His 30-foot ferris wheel covered in 4,000 LED lights was unveiled in 2021, and is made almost entirely out of scrap metal. And while Jerry enjoys changing things up and surprising the crowd with new features, he also makes sure to include some crowd favorites year after year.

Christmas icons such as Santa, Rudolph and his reindeer friends, snowmen, elfs, and a nativity scene all have a part in the Ludy display. And Jerry has created his own beloved Christmas icons, such as the mischievous hopping Gus the Frog and “Striker,” the resident mallet-wielding elf. His ski lift takes stuffed animals across the street and into the neighbor’s yard, and is always much loved by children.

Eventually, Jerry began using a computerized program to sequence the lights to music, which onlookers can hear by tuning to a nearby radio transmitter. The radio extends to 175 feet, allowing people to drive by and watch the show, or park and enjoy the music coming from speakers outside Jerry’s house. Fun, iconic holiday tunes sync with the light show to add an element of grandiose excitement.

As the Ludy light display grew in popularity, several of Jerry’s neighbors caught his Christmas cheer and wanted to join in on the fun. This gave Jerry the opportunity to build even bigger displays extending above and across the street and into neighboring yards.

In spite of traffic and crowds in Jerry’s neighborhood during the holiday seasons, his neighbors have been supportive of his light show. And, as word has spread about the Ludy light displays, people have come from farther and farther away for the chance to experience the breathtaking show. At times, busloads of people have come out from nursing homes, schools, and other groups. Thousands of cars have passed through the neighborhood to see the lights in a single weekend. Jerry has had people come from Atlanta, Montgomery, and Florida just to experience the lights.

Over the years, Jerry’s light display has become an icon for Christmas cheer, and Jerry himself has become a mentor of sorts to people in town who were inspired by his lights. He has taken his free time to share his secrets with others in the area, which will hopefully lead to even more dazzling displays for us all to enjoy.

For Jerry, it really is about the children. “I like to bring a smile upon a child,” Jerry says, explaining the simple motivation behind his hard work and generous presentations to the community. “I know what it meant to me when I was a kid. I just want to give them something to marvel at that will get them away from the stress of home life and maybe inspire them.”

Pulling off a 500,000 bulb light display means hours and hours of planning and hard work. Starting in August each year, Jerry works on the year’s light display in his spare time after he gets off work at his full time job. His son Keith has been his sidekick through the years and has had a major hand in helping Jerry pull off each year’s show.

In 2021, the Ludy’s light show reached the apex of its magnitude, with half a million lights between Jerry’s home and four of his neighbor’s homes, which he decorated and programmed to be included in the show.

As more and more people discovered the joy of Ludy’s light show, they wanted to contribute funds in gratitude for the display. Jerry doesn’t accept money for the show, which is free to the public, but he did decide to set up a donation box raising funds for children’s charities. For twelve years, onlookers had the opportunity to donate to the Make a Wish foundation, and Ludy’s raised over $180,000 for the cause. This year, donations will go to St. Jude’s children’s hospital. “We had many people suggest St. Jude’s,” Jerry says, “And we want to do something for the families of St. Jude’s.”

For more than two decades, Jerry has spread Christmas cheer across the community with his creative light show and limitless ideas. This year, however, will likely be the last for Ludy’s Christmas light show. As the years pass, Jerry, now a grandfather, understands that he can’t expect to be able to continue the work required to pull off such an immense display. “I’ve been blessed to have good health all these years,” Jerry says, “But I don’t want to push my luck.” Climbing on the roof, putting in countless hours after working his full time job, and months of preparation and tireless labor all take their toll, and Jerry is ready to pass the baton on to others in the community who have taken their inspiration from him.

With years worth of memories of smiling faces and laughing children, Jerry looks back on all the work, time, and power bills with no regrets. “It’s not about the lights, but about the memories created in every child and every child-like heart,” he says. Jerry’s light show has brought an entire community to his doorstep, and in a true full circle, is now meeting visitors who came to his show as children, and are now bringing their own children to experience the wonder of Ludy’s.

Truly, we have all been blessed to have stood alongside the street curb on a winter evening, reveling in the magnitude of Ludy’s light show, music and lights and joy pulsing in our bodies, for awhile, all of us children at heart. Jerry’s gift to the community will not soon be forgotten.

The Ludy’s Christmas Spectacular light show will open on Thanksgiving and will go through New Year’s Day. Lights will be on from 6:00 – 9:30 each evening and until 10:00 on Friday and Saturday evenings. The Ludy house is located at 5784 Ironstone Drive in Columbus. The light show radio station can be found at 90.1 FM. For more information visit ludychristmas.com.

By Natalie Downey