The night after Halloween, Anthony Childers waited anxiously at his computer, timers and controls. Three weeks before Thanksgiving and almost two months before Santa’s big visit, he knew time was not a major factor, but his anticipation quickened. A few seconds later, Childers, 27, breathed a big sigh of relief when 30,000 Christmas lights began to activate outside the homes of his grandmother and brother on Cherokee Falls Road.
The cancer survivor’s plan to once again share Christmas with others driving through the rural area was coming together. In December 2005, he was not as fortunate. By mid-month, he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. The outdoor lights came down, and an indoor tree did not go up that year. “That closed up Christmas early for us,” Childers said. After he lost his job early in 2006, memories of the bleak Christmas were as slow to fade as the battle his weakened body waged.
Using an interest in electronics his grandmother, Mary Tessneer, said developed early, Childers took stock of his talents. He opened a business, Ace Electronics, running it at his own recovering speed. Last year, he was able to have a few lights decorating his residence by Christmas. A plan soon took shape, and Childers decided to help others experience the Christmas he had lost almost two years ago.
When the Cherokee County Chapter of the American Red Cross moved next door to his business on North Logan Street, Childers made the board of directors an offer. “And it was too good to refuse. Of course, we weren’t going to tell him no,” said Jim Holland, a board member. Childers successfully developed a massive Christmas light and sound display, synchronized by computer, in his relatives’ yards. Childers then turned to his new neighbors.