With Christmas just a few months from now, I find myself reminiscing of the local Christmas lights tours I lead several years back.

Known as the “Berglund Family’s Annual Christmas Lights Tour”, it began as a gift to the Alexandria MN Lakes Area in December of 2020. I decided to open up my family’s tradition to the community I love. Approximately 5 vehicles joined those of his family for the tour that year.

The following year, I brought it back in 2021, and was amazed when I found myself leading a caravan some 40-50 vehicles long. I’d never led anything like that before, and immediately went through the route in my head to consider needed modifications to allow that many vehicles.

It was like playing the “Snake” video game in real life! We had a blast, and discovered I had memorized the route after just one run-through the night prior.

In 2022, the tour took a different direction to raise funds for my wife and I to adopt a sibling group from the State’s foster care program. The tour flopped that year due to a series of winter storms. I only led a couple cars driven by people willing to brave the snow-covered roads.

(The adoption efforts ultimately flopped as well due to new government regulations.)

Looking back, having the tour run 1-2 times over a single weekend like in 2021, brought in the biggest turnout. Safety was a concern with some 4-dozen cars following each other around town like that.

I’m not sure how to handle that situation better, which is why the following year I tried offering more tours in hopes of having fewer vehicles per tour. But then with the less than ideal weather and road conditions, I ended up with just 2 vehicles, each on a separate night.

That year, I made the most of my time by running through the tour on my own to capture photographs of what a person can expect to see.

A number of people have asked me if I plan to bring the tour(s) back this Christmas season. I’ve certainly pondered the idea some, but no decision has been made to move forward with it at this point.

There is a lot of work that goes into featuring the Alexandria MN Area’s best Christmas lights while keeping the drive-time down to a manageable 45 minutes. Much longer, and you’d have to start figuring out the logistical nightmare of a bathroom stop.

People showed up excited, holiday music cranked up in the car with warm drinks in hand. Lots of families with small children. They knew some wonderful surprises were in store for them throughout the tour. I liked that I had played a small part in bringing people together for something like that.

If things move forward, you can expect to hear about it just after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. If you attended any of the past tours or would like to take part in any future ones, I’d appreciate hearing from you.