Before the Wilson family moved to Platte City, one of their favorite family traditions during the Christmas season was to drive to Seven Bridges to view the festive light display.
Jennifer and Iain Wilson and their three children, Sterling,12, Langston, 9, and Cortland, 7, moved into the Seven Bridges area in 2017, and have now become an integral part of the area’s Christmas decoration planning and setup, which brings beauty and joy to those who drive through the neighborhood.
“When I think about the meaning of Christmas, the light display embodies the heart of this season,” Jennifer said. “While my family is carrying on this tradition, the light display is much more than that. It is about three men working together, to not only keep kids smiling over the holiday, but also bringing peace to those who really need it during this season.”
Matt Pohl was the former next-door neighbor of the Wilsons and had decided to sell his house. Jennifer, who works for Platinum Realty, had helped him sell it. He wanted her to help keep the holiday tradition alive and donated his time, energy, lights and decorating knowledge to ensure that this would happen.
“My husband, Iain Wilson, our former neighbor Matt Pohl and our next-door neighbor Dennis Gremillion all have a part in what makes this display so special to our community,” Jennifer said. ”My husband didn’t fully understand the complexity of what he was getting into, but knew how happy the lights have made our children throughout the years, so he wanted to bring that joy to others. Dennis Gremillion, who is friends with both Matt and Iain, runs a charity called the Hudson Project Charity and we wanted to bring awareness to that charity and raise money for the meaningful work they do for cancer patients and their caregivers.”
When the plan was finalized and set into motion, Matt and Iain went into work mode and devoted several weekends and evenings to ensure the display would be as beautiful as it had been in prior years. They worked hard to get the decorations and lighting ready to view.
“My boys all were so excited to help with a light display like the one they had admired for years,” Jennifer said. “Christmas has always been our favorite holiday, so inside our house we have garland everywhere and more than 10 full-sized trees up and decorated. It only made sense for Iain to make the outside of the home as festive as the inside of our home.”
Giving has always been a predominant theme in the Wilson’s home, especially around the holidays, so to be able to make children happy, while supporting a charity that is near and dear to their hearts, they knew this was what they needed to commit to as a family.
While the intensive planning and toil involved in getting the lights display set up properly is a challenge itself, other challenges have presented themselves recently for the Wilson’s first year in this endeavor, including the recent storm that knocked down some of the display.
“But all in all, we are blessed we have been able to keep the tradition of the lights alive,” Jennifer said.
The families also have big goals in store for next year. While they purchased a few new props to add to the show this year, they also wanted to purchase a mega tree, which has poles in the shape of a Christmas tree and strings of mini-lights that stream down the poles.
“Unfortunately, with shipping delays we weren’t able to accomplish that, however Matt, Iain and Dennis have a plan to make that happen next year,” Jennifer said.”I feel very lucky for my kids to have three great men to look up to and see what service to others really looks like. To me and my family that is really what the lights are all about and the true spirit of Christmas.”