Holiday Lights for Paws

With great excitement, Lights 4 Paws is back this year and better than ever! This brightly lit trail has become a family tradition for many locals. What began in Concord, North Carolina, in 2008 by the Shotts family, made its way to Florence in 2013. Vip spoke with Ross and his wife Darlene to learn more about their love of charity and their vision to brighten up the holidays!

HOW DID YOU GUYS GET STARTED WITH LIGHTS 4 PAWS?

Ross: My wife and I moved to Florence from Concord, North Carolina. It’s hard to remember but I believe around 2008, while still living in Concord, we thought our lights could be an ‘event’ for our local humane society. We started small, adding lights here and there. One year, Darlene thought we had something that could be used as a fundraising event. She already had a connection with the local animal groups, so it was not a hard conclusion that they would be the beneficiaries. Upon moving to Florence, we began our fundraiser by giving to local travel baseball teams before building a relationship with the Florence Area Humane Society (FAHS). By 2015, the FAHS was wowed by what we could do and asked to join in.

HOW HAVE YOU EXPANDED YOUR LIGHT DECOR SINCE 2008?

Ross: In Concord, we had one acre until we expanded onto an empty neighboring lot with the owner’s approval. We later added another bit from a neighbor’s backyard. Our first house in Florence had two acres; our current location is nearly five acres. We had to add more to help fill in the almost five acres, those first years were a little thin in our eyes, but the community still accepted us. Believe it or not, we purchased the land we currently live on with a light display in mind and then built our house in the middle of it.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME REWARDING MOMENTS OVER THE YEARS? Darlene: First off, we do the lights because of the joy of sharing them. We love to hear the shrills of kids seeing the lights and decorations and making sure everyone around them knows about it. We have kids that visit every year. Unfortunately, we closed last year because of Covid, so some family traditions were sidelined. Secondly, our love of animals guided us to use our lights to help as much as we can. We donate our space, time, and lights but truly it is the folks that come to see the lights and donate that really make the difference.

Ross: This may sound cliché but doing the lights gives us a purpose. We aren’t vacationtype people; so instead, we plan, purchase items, and execute a light display that in turn gives the community something to enjoy. Then the community responds by donating to help the FAHS. Sure, we could just take the easy way and give FAHS several donations throughout the year, but the money and time we spend on this is multiplied many times over by having the community help raise the money. We are merely a yearly donation drive catalyst.

TELL US ABOUT THE LABOR INVOLVED WITH A FIVE-ACRE CHRISTMAS LIGHT DISPLAY. Ross: We start setting up the property in September and are open from Thanksgiving through the end of December. Taking it all down takes about two months too. This is a six-month commitment for us every year. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew created some chaos for us. We had already started setting up and had to wait for the weather to clear to start back. We had 53 large, tall, 100 feet trees in all kinds of tangled messes. A local veterinarian arranged for a tree guy to come from Tennessee and help us put the trees on the ground. A group of volunteers from Sonoco also came for a few days to help cut up the downed trees. Darlene and Denise, my wife’s sister, worked every day to move the debris. I was employed at the time so I spent nights and weekends cutting and prepping the debris to be moved. We did not get started back on the light setup until the first of November and had to rush, but the show went on. Visit Lights 4 Paws at 3251 Mears Drive in Florence, SC for 1/4 mile walk through wonderland of holiday lights.

NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 26

pictured left to right: Darlene and Ross Shotts, Denise Pate, and Jayne Boswell and Carrington Wingard with FAHS.

WHO DOES THE SETTING UP AND TEARING DOWN? DO VOLUNTEERS HELP? Ross: Just the three of us do the setup and tear down, my wife, sister-in-law, and myself. We use volunteers to help while we are open to the public. Folks from the FAHS help at the entry to greet, take donations, and answer questions about their mission. Meanwhile, FAHS also recruits volunteers to help run the parking lot, traffic flow, and guest flow. Darlene coordinates with the group of volunteers to be sure Santa is available as many nights as possible. (Anyone with a line to Santa that wants to help would be appreciated!)

WILL YOU BE ADDING ANY NEW ITEMS THIS YEAR? Darlene: Our gingerbread oven has been working overtime to prepare for a larger gingerbread area. As most folks know, we make changes every year to keep it interesting so we will keep the rest a surprise!