Popular Centre County light show moves locations to help businesses, build community

Since 2014, Eric Stoner has put on a light show at his Ferguson Township home, luring neighbors and community members to visit the attraction each holiday season. And each year, the popular light show raised money for a different charity.

But this year, with Stoner in the process of moving, he decided to take the lights in another direction: to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in downtown State College, in conjunction with the Downtown State College Improvement District.

Now the new, walk-up event has a name: Light Up Downtown.

Stoner is working with the DSCID to help drive traffic to downtown businesses, which have struggled financially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Local businesses are the ones that need that money to put their kids in dance class or baseball or whatever, and your spending that money locally lets those people be able to put food on the table for their families as well,” Stoner said, “and we as a community need to keep these businesses open.”

Lee Anne Jeffries, DSCID marketing and communications director, said the DSCID partnered with Stoner through his business, Nittany Entertainment, in order to provide a place where the community can gather to celebrate the season while staying safe.

“Community events like Light Up Downtown really speak to our mission,” she said. “And that is to support activities that will foster and maintain a vibrant place for our residents and visitors to enjoy.”

Stoner said that this year, instead of donating to a specific charity, he hopes attendees will choose to spend their money downtown after viewing the light show.

As the owner of two small businesses himself — Nittany Entertainment and the Classic Cones ice cream truck — Stoner said he knows this has been a tough year, especially without a traditional Penn State football season.

“A lot of these businesses rely on the football traffic and the extra people coming into town, so they really need something to kind of encourage the locals to come out and visit more,” he said.

Stoner had two weeks to set up the light show, which will run through Jan. 1.

He worked with a group of 10 people, some doing behind-the-scenes work and others helping him with hands-on installation. He estimated that the group went through about 10,000 zip ties.

“We worked tirelessly throughout the night,” he said. “Lots of windy nights in the cold and the wind and the rain and the snow to get the lights up, and so it was a daunting process, lots of blistered hands and cold fingers and feet.”

In addition to the familiar challenges of hanging the lights, Stoner said the team also followed coronavirus protocols, such as mask wearing.

Stoner said he does the work not only to help others, but admits creating the light shows has become somewhat of an “obsession.”

“I spent a lot of time researching and joining Christmas Facebook groups to hone in the craft and make it better, and every year we try to learn a little bit more to strive to be better,” Stoner said. “I’m a perfectionist to a point.”

This year, he worked to make the show more “immersive,” so that viewers can walk under the lights and feel like they’re a part of the show, rather than the drive-by experience they had when the lights were at his home.

Penn State Information Technology Project Manager Brendan Bagley has lived in State College for 13 years and said the light show has been an annual tradition.

“Anybody coming into town in December, we always try to get them to go by,” he said. “We mention it to people (at) work, family friends, neighbors, etcetera, who didn’t know about or hadn’t heard of it.”

Though Bagley has yet to see this year’s light show, he praised how “cleanly” the show is always put together, with the lights synchronized to the music.

In addition to the technicalities of the show, Brendan said he admires the way the light show is able to connect the community.

“It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity, whatever you bring to the table, whoever you are (as) a diverse individual, the light show is just fun to see.”

In addition to the light show itself, Jeffries said downtown is offering free trolley rides, gift wrapping and free parking. And by hosting the events over a period of six weeks, she said, the DSCID hopes to avoid crowds amid the pandemic.

She hopes the light show returns to its location for another holiday season.

“We love catching the reactions as people stop by the plaza to see what’s going on,” Jeffries said. “It really does put a smile on your face.”

The light show is available to viewers from 5-10 p.m. daily at the MLK Plaza on Fraser Street. Visit www.downtownstatecollege.com/holiday/light-up-downtown for more information about the show and holiday events.