For a dozen miles or more east and west of Bliss on Interstate 84 in southern Idaho the nighttime glow in the December sky is unmistakable. Some folks assume there's a truck stop up ahead. Other drivers expect a small city, a shopping mall, or perhaps an airport. Instead, they drive by the elaborately decorated farmstead of the Dick Elliott family.
Fencelines and outbuildings glow in red and blue and green. "Peace on Earth" is announced by yellow lights over the corrals. A bright angel hovers over a manger scene while Santa Claus clings to branches high in a tree.
"This year we started putting up lights the day after Thanksgiving. We had five men working full-time for a week to get it ready," said Dick Elliott, hay farmer and lead Christmas light display decorator.
Asked how many lights his crew put up, Elliott paused and said, "I have no idea. There are over 20,000 of the big lights, I know that."
The display spreads across a half-acre of land, several buildings, dozens of bushes and trees, and miles of fenceline. Every year's exhibit is different, and inevitably a little bit bigger. "We started with just two strings of lights," Elliott recalled. The year was 1968 and extra cash was in short supply. He had no intention of starting something so elaborate. "Every year, it seems, we added two or three strings," he said. "One year we added 200."
Soon the lights were drawing people off the Interstate and attracting busloads of school kids from miles around. Television stations and newspapers and glossy national magazines proclaimed the display one of the largest in Idaho and one of the most impressive nationwide.
Each year the Elliotts hold an open house in mid-December and invite anyone interested to stop in for drinks, finger food and conversation about their Christmas lights. Last year's open house attracted 1,400 people. "We just love the lights," said Elliott, modestly. The display is the work of Dick and Karen Elliott, their son and daughter, spouses and cousins and in-laws, and a couple hired hands.
The Elliott farmstead lies just a mile north of Interstate 84, taking Pioneer Road north from the Bliss exit (Exit 137). Visitors drive by slowly, park along the road out front or cruise quietly through the grounds. Some get out to hear the Christmas music broadcast from speakers or to take pictures.
"Our neighbors are really good about it. They think of the display as their own," said Elliott. While the lights attract large crowds at times, no one has complained. And the Elliotts continue welcoming more visitors.
"Heck, if nobody came, we wouldn't do it," Elliott said.