Visitors to the sixth year of Kiwanis Holiday Lights will notice many new displays this year thanks to Kate Aase and Dennis Merritt. The couple is well-known for their ever-expanding lighted holiday display at their rural Morristown home. “Christmas decorating has always been a part of my family’s holiday celebration, so when we built our home we installed three, 100 amp services around our property so that we could create our own display for our neighbors to enjoy,” said Kate. Over the past 16 years thousands of local residents have enjoyed visiting their property to see their creative displays.
This fall Kate and Dennis contacted leaders at Kiwanis Holiday Lights to inquire if they were interested in receiving their displays. The couple has plans to build a new house and the location isn’t conducive to large crowds. Scott Wojcik, Kiwanis Holiday Lights president was eager to accept their generous donation. “Kate and Dennis’ displays are perfect for Kiwanis Holiday Lights. They’re large and many of them are animated,” he said. “Because of the complexity of the displays, Kate and Dennis offered to help volunteers set them up this fall,” said Wojcik. “They’ve spent many days with us making sure everything is assembled and mounted in the park.”
Some of the donated displays that visitors will see this year include several animated designs featuring Santa in a hot-air balloon, flying an airplane, in a helicopter and riding a motorcycle. The first display that visitors will see as they enter the park was also a gift from Kate and Dennis; an animated scene of Mrs. Claus shooting lights on a tree with a candy cane gun. There are also many lighted reindeer throughout the park that were part of Kate and Dennis’ collection as well as a pair saluting soldiers near “Salute to the Troops” area that Kate and Dennis added to their display after 9/11. The couple also mentioned they have more displays that may be coming to Kiwanis Holiday Lights in the future.