The Christmas Drive Thru Light-Show

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Recently Gridley High School Leadership Class put in some serious work to create a little holiday magic for our community with: The Christmas Drive Thru Light-Show.

On Wednesday, December 16th, the GHS Leadership class transformed the u-shaped parking lot of the LDS Church on French Avenue  into a socially distanced winter wonderland. The Drive-Thru Light Show was complete with scenes from the Polar Express, The Grinch,Candy Cane Lane, and of course, Santa and his helpers.

Students began planning, designing and creating the scenes  weeks prior and used plywood, paint, lights, blow-up decorations and more to bring their ideas to life. As visitors arrived for the show,  students directed them to the one-way entrance, bidding them to tune their radios to 92.3 for a holiday soundtrack. A tunnel made entirely of bright purple/pink lights funneled vehicles into the main show, where they could travel at their own pace through the holiday scenes. Students were studded throughout waving and wishing patrons a Happy Holiday.

The Drive-Through Light  Show is just one of many socially-distanced events that the GHS Leadership Class has brought to our community during COVID. Leadership Advisor Jennifer Davison says, “It's been a tough year for our leadership class since we haven't been able to host many of our traditional events but the kids have worked really hard to come up with creative ideas for the community. After the success of our trunk-or-treat, the class wanted to organize something for the holiday season and they came up with the ambitious idea of a drive-thru light display. They've spent countless hours working on their designs to make sure this is something the whole community can enjoy. They're a creative, tenacious group and I'm so proud of what they've accomplished already this year!”

A steady stream of cars arrived over the two hours the Christmas Drive-Thru Light Show was live, with some driving through twice. The family fun is easily summed up In the words of one two-year-old-guest :“AGAIN! Let's go again!” For those that missed it this year and the community, the hope is that the drive-thru will return next year by the innovative GHS class and become another new holiday tradition in Gridley.