Help Keep Family Traditions Alive
Donation protected
HELP SAVE CHRISTMAS!!!
I can’t believe I'm writing this, and it's unfortunate that it has come to this. We love creating a magical Christmas and it saddens me that I have to ask for help. For those of you that don't know about this show, our family personally sets this display up every year. Our entire family's blood, sweat, and tears go into this display. We spend ALL of our time for 10-12 weeks setting this display up for the enjoyment of families all over the state. Anyone who has come to see the show knows that traffic is a major concern and hampers the enjoyment of this show. But people still come! And they wait in the traffic and return year after year and the show attracts more and more new people every year.
This is why I am asking for help.
Larsen’s Christmas Light Show is looking for help to keep its' Christmas display going. The Village of Campton Hills wants to pass an ordinance that will not let your family view the light show from the road. This ordinance will allow the police to give $75 tickets to any and all cars that park, pause or wait along Beith Road. The Village claims that the traffic during the light show causes safety concerns and initially they requested that we NOT do the light show at all this year. We have met with the Village Police and the Village Board in attempts to come to some sort of solution that would still allow the light show to go on and keep the traffic/safety concerns to a minimum. Those solutions include new signage, parking attendants and reducing the length of the show to 25 minutes which will allow more families to see it with less lines and shorter wait times.
However, the village will only agree to these solutions and to NOT issue $75 tickets IF we agree to pay for off-duty officers to direct the traffic flow. Unfortunately these off-duty officers charge $60.00 an hour for weekdays and $90.00 an hour for weekends and holidays. The village is mandating that we provide 2 off-duty officers for 3 hours each weekend night and holidays.
The show runs from November 24th through January 1st. Monday–Thursday from 5 PM -10:30 PM and Friday-Sunday 5 PM-11:30 PM.
The dates that the village is requiring the off-duty officers are as follows:
· Nov. 24th-26th for a total cost of $1,260.00
· December 2nd-3rd for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 9th-10th for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 16th-17th for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 22nd-24th for a total cost of $1,080.00
The total cost for these off-duty officers is $5,580.00.
They are also requiring us to hire 3 parking lot attendants to direct traffic in and out faster. I can use regular employees for this but it will still cost me another $3,500.00 for the season. And they are also requiring 4 scrolling signs which will cost another $2,500.00 for the season.
Total cost to meet the village requirements and keep the show running will be $11,580.00
Now, as many of you know, in the past I have used the light show to promote my own business (County Wide Landscaping) and it has been very successful. This has always been a free show open to the public and any donations received were voluntary. I also have links on my web sites for donations to charities, but the show itself is funded entirely out of my own pocket. Unfortunately, this $11,580.00 bill is too much for me to bear and I will be asking for donations this year to help with the cost.
I will also NOT be promoting my own business this year, and with the new 25 minute show there will be no song intros or advertisements. I’m hoping this will reduce congested traffic and make the show more enjoyable for ALL to see.
The money raised will be used to pay for the off duty officers and anything left over will be donated to charities.
We would love to keep the show going. We would love to help with traffic safety and reduce wait times. We hope to continue making this a family tradition and bring smiles to everybody during this Holiday season. We would love to keep donations going for charities.
The new procedure will be:
Parking lot attendants will line people into the parking lot in rows which will hold 50-60 cars. The 25 minute show will play and at the end of show, all lights will turn off and the radio announcement will ask all cars to leave with the help of attendants. Then next batch of cars will enter. This will be done in a 10 minute time frame. The new show will be great! It still includes everybody’s favorite songs, but they have been cut down in time and blended together. This will definitely increase traffic flow and more people will be able to enjoy the show without long lines or wait times.
We need to raise as much as possible as soon as possible because being that we are new to the traffic control they are requiring payment UP FRONT. Therefore we need all GO FUND ME donations lined up and paid for by November 14th.
From our family to yours, Thanks and Merry CHRISTmas!!!
The Larsens
I can’t believe I'm writing this, and it's unfortunate that it has come to this. We love creating a magical Christmas and it saddens me that I have to ask for help. For those of you that don't know about this show, our family personally sets this display up every year. Our entire family's blood, sweat, and tears go into this display. We spend ALL of our time for 10-12 weeks setting this display up for the enjoyment of families all over the state. Anyone who has come to see the show knows that traffic is a major concern and hampers the enjoyment of this show. But people still come! And they wait in the traffic and return year after year and the show attracts more and more new people every year.
This is why I am asking for help.
Larsen’s Christmas Light Show is looking for help to keep its' Christmas display going. The Village of Campton Hills wants to pass an ordinance that will not let your family view the light show from the road. This ordinance will allow the police to give $75 tickets to any and all cars that park, pause or wait along Beith Road. The Village claims that the traffic during the light show causes safety concerns and initially they requested that we NOT do the light show at all this year. We have met with the Village Police and the Village Board in attempts to come to some sort of solution that would still allow the light show to go on and keep the traffic/safety concerns to a minimum. Those solutions include new signage, parking attendants and reducing the length of the show to 25 minutes which will allow more families to see it with less lines and shorter wait times.
However, the village will only agree to these solutions and to NOT issue $75 tickets IF we agree to pay for off-duty officers to direct the traffic flow. Unfortunately these off-duty officers charge $60.00 an hour for weekdays and $90.00 an hour for weekends and holidays. The village is mandating that we provide 2 off-duty officers for 3 hours each weekend night and holidays.
The show runs from November 24th through January 1st. Monday–Thursday from 5 PM -10:30 PM and Friday-Sunday 5 PM-11:30 PM.
The dates that the village is requiring the off-duty officers are as follows:
· Nov. 24th-26th for a total cost of $1,260.00
· December 2nd-3rd for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 9th-10th for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 16th-17th for a total cost of $1,080.00
· December 22nd-24th for a total cost of $1,080.00
The total cost for these off-duty officers is $5,580.00.
They are also requiring us to hire 3 parking lot attendants to direct traffic in and out faster. I can use regular employees for this but it will still cost me another $3,500.00 for the season. And they are also requiring 4 scrolling signs which will cost another $2,500.00 for the season.
Total cost to meet the village requirements and keep the show running will be $11,580.00
Now, as many of you know, in the past I have used the light show to promote my own business (County Wide Landscaping) and it has been very successful. This has always been a free show open to the public and any donations received were voluntary. I also have links on my web sites for donations to charities, but the show itself is funded entirely out of my own pocket. Unfortunately, this $11,580.00 bill is too much for me to bear and I will be asking for donations this year to help with the cost.
I will also NOT be promoting my own business this year, and with the new 25 minute show there will be no song intros or advertisements. I’m hoping this will reduce congested traffic and make the show more enjoyable for ALL to see.
The money raised will be used to pay for the off duty officers and anything left over will be donated to charities.
We would love to keep the show going. We would love to help with traffic safety and reduce wait times. We hope to continue making this a family tradition and bring smiles to everybody during this Holiday season. We would love to keep donations going for charities.
The new procedure will be:
Parking lot attendants will line people into the parking lot in rows which will hold 50-60 cars. The 25 minute show will play and at the end of show, all lights will turn off and the radio announcement will ask all cars to leave with the help of attendants. Then next batch of cars will enter. This will be done in a 10 minute time frame. The new show will be great! It still includes everybody’s favorite songs, but they have been cut down in time and blended together. This will definitely increase traffic flow and more people will be able to enjoy the show without long lines or wait times.
We need to raise as much as possible as soon as possible because being that we are new to the traffic control they are requiring payment UP FRONT. Therefore we need all GO FUND ME donations lined up and paid for by November 14th.
From our family to yours, Thanks and Merry CHRISTmas!!!
The Larsens
Organizer
Brian Larsen
Organizer
Elburn, IL
