Wanda English Burnett - Editor

There is no need for Ripley County residents to travel this year to see extravagant light displays depicting the holiday season.

From places that have thousands of twinkling lights to those who have numerous inflatable displays, there are a variety of displays - each showing individual taste in decorating.

Every town including small ones like New Marion and Cross Plains have places that are decorated to the hilt for the season. Just take a ride through the county and you will have an evening’s worth of entertainment and only use a little gas.

Why do they do it?

“It’s a lot of fun,” stated Joshua Lohrum, 21, of Osgood, whose display took first place in the Osgood Merchants’ Association’s contest this year.

From the first year when he was 12, when Joshua and his brother Micah strung a few lights to outline their home just north of Osgood on US 421, the display has grown to include a number of items and over 30,000 twinkling lights.

There are little wooden houses with different displays inside. The latest one, a village that Josh created with the help of Mandy Thompson, his brother’s girlfriend, is complete with a train that runs through it. He built the 5’x8' building that it is housed in as well. “I collected houses (for the village) for a couple of years,” he noted. Josh and his brother Micah also do their own wiring, making sure they are within the “safe” limit.

Actually, Josh’s love for decorating for the Christmas season came when he was just a little boy, according to his mother, Helen. “He used to draw out diagrams of how he wanted items/lights placed. He would even color the items/lights on paper to get a better idea of how things would look,” she noted.

Helen continued by saying Josh’s plans were elaborate even as a young child. “Many times he would start his drawings in the summer. And it’s not just one piece of paper. He would tape them to cardboard and then there would be several large pieces all taped together,” she remembered.

Josh’s parents, Helen and Johnnie, allowed him to create whatever he wanted at their home and encourage him to be creative. Johnnie helped this year by making the lollipops for that display.
Josh says he starts about the third week in October and works a little each day until his display is complete - that’s usually by December 1. He has a full time job at Gecom, a factory in Greensburg, and is also a member of the 650north band. He said he mostly puts the decorations in place himself.

This year a friend, Ronnie Reynolds, built a manger scene out of barn siding from an old barn that Cecil Bultman Jr. had torn down. He has a Nutcracker display that includes two five-foot tall Nutcrackers and many small ones that are encased in a wood framed building. Other “little houses” are two he acquired from Jerry Beard. One is an elf workshop, the other with santas. The figurines are animated and lights bring the displays to life.

A helicopter, borrowed from Charlie Swinney, graces the lawn, along with many other items that set the night sky glowing. Josh took a piece of glass and trimmed it with blue lights to resemble water and has his deer there. “It looks like they are at the water’s edge,” he noted.

Many of the items Josh displays have been given to him or loaned. He noted that the Merry Christmas and Noel words are made out of pipe and came from John Vollmer’s attic. He has a star that came from his uncle’s, Ronnie Lohrum, who won second place in the Osgood Merchants’ Association’s contest this year. It must run in the family!

The display is lit up from December 1 to January 1, pretty much doubling the Lohrum’s electric usage for that period of time. It is usually on from 5:30 p.m. to about 10:30 p.m.

After only nine years, Josh says he may have to hang it up. “This is probably the last year for me,” he noted. The band he is the drummer for has signed on with Brooklyn Beat Records/Warner and Josh knows he’ll be on the road a lot more. As it is he keeps busy and gets little sleep with working full time, practicing for the band, and performing. He doesn’t mind, he says he just knows he probably won’t have the time to devout to decorating next year.

All in all, Josh says he’s had fun with doing the decorating and likes to see people enjoying the display. He won a big basket full of goodies from the Osgood Merchants Association that included several gift certificates and he can claim the title of first place.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTOS Pictured above is part of the new village display Josh Lohrum has added to his spectacular display this year. The little village is complete with a train running through it.