FAIRBURY, Neb. - Four years ago, some folks in Fairbury felt their part of Southeast Nebraska was lacking some of the lights and buzz that have become Christmas classics in other locations. And now, thanks to many contributions from families, businesses and churches in the area, in year four Fairbury’s Christmas at Crystal Springs event is bigger than it’s ever been.  

For the past four years starting around Thanksgiving, Fairbury has been ringing in the holiday season by decking out the Crystal Springs campground with a lights display that’s quickly become a local Christmas classic. 

“It’s so wonderful to see this grow into what it has,” said Brian Schmidt, who’s been part of the committee that puts this event together since before the first installment of the lights in Christmas 2021. “From where we started, with basically nothing, and now we’ve got so many people involved, and we’ve got miles and miles of lights out here... it’s really a neat deal, and it’s very humbling.” 

In year one, Christmas at Crystal Springs consisted of a small core crew of people stringing lights across a couple of campsites.  

“Basically it was whatever I had sitting in my attic – that's what we had the first year,” Schmidt joked. “And now it’s grown to where we have quite a team out here – it's been amazing.”  

Now, in year four, there’s close to two miles of lights that run all around the campground, circling the lake in the middle. It’s a yearlong planning and fundraising process that culminates with one big flash of light for the full month of December.  

And in addition to all the lights around the lake and the park, this year’s Christmas at Crystal Springs also featured carriage rides throughout the property on the Sunday before Christmas, and on the Saturday before Christmas, a live nativity courtesy of Grace Lutheran Church – all of which has combined to make this year’s edition of the event the biggest one yet.  

With lights set up by local individuals, families and businesses dotting the sides of the main pathway through the park, Grace Lutheran’s live nativity takes up residence along the home stretch. For one night close to Christmas, more than a dozen members of both the church and the local community dress up as angels, shepherds, the Wise Men, and recreate the classic manger scene, shining a light back on the religious meaning of the Christmas season. 

Krystal Schroeder and Heidi Layton are the co-leaders of the Grace Lutheran youth group, helping to pick out their spots to set up and then orchestrating all of the “actors” on the night of the nativity.  

“We've learned as we’ve grown,” Schroeder said. “We’ve had five or six locations throughout the park the first year – lot of setup, freezing cold. And over the last couple years, we’ve just gotten smarter about how we set things up, and that’s made it a lot easier. It’s been fun.” 

After a year or two experimenting in other locations, the Grace Lutheran crew linked up with Crystal Springs in the second year of their event – and that partnership has helped both groups immensely.  

“When they got involved our second year, that’s when I really felt like we had something cool here,” said Schmidt. “It took on a whole new meaning for me – and for everyone, really. It’s really a special feeling, and that’s why you see so many cars going through the park tonight [Saturday] - it’s nonstop traffic all night long when they’re here.” 

Schmidt said the original idea for the event was born when a group of people from Fairbury met up after seeing a Christmas lights display in Belleville, Kansas, about 45 miles to the southwest, and decided to recreate it in their own image back home.  

Now, with the fourth year of Christmas at Crystal Springs fully underway, it’s safe to say that initial dream has become a reality.