In 2012, Jerry Lageson flipped the switch and transformed an oak tree into a landmark for thousands of passersby. Along Interstate 35 south of Faribault, Minn., Lageson annually adorns this tree with 50,000 white lights.
When Lageson began his adventure, he had no idea the impact it would have: “A lot of truck drivers have been on the road for six or eight hours and then they go by this tree, and it gives them a little lift and they honk their horn.”
Lageson has received letters over the years from people who pass the tree on their way to and from hospitals, nursing homes and family.
“It makes me feel like I bring joy to a lot of people,” he says. “I’m not personally involved with them but my tree touches them – touches them right in their heart.”
Every holiday season thousands of people drive past this magical tree, and whether they are seeing it for the first time or many times, each finds their own piece of joy from those 50,000 twinkling lights.
