WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WSAW) - Andrew Konkol’s Christmas light show has been a tradition for 12 years, but each year is a new one.
“Once you get going with it, it grows year after year. Every year I add a little something,” said Konkol, who’s display on the south side of Wisconsin Rapids has seen record traffic compared to previous years.
The lights bright, and flash in sync with the music playing via radio in people’s cars.
“It’s about 10,000 lights,” Konkol said.
But this isn’t your ordinary light show. It has a meaning.
“We had a few people that came to us and said ‘maybe you can start raising some money for a charity of something like that,’” Konkol said.
His family decided to support children with cancer. That was four years ago. Three families followed before this one, each receiving a generous amount to help with bills and lodging while their child receives treatment.
This year’s show is doing just that, benefitting six-year-old Malcolm McGregor.
“I don’t know how to describe it but it’s kind of sobering because it reminds us of how serious the situation is” Tracey McGregor, Malcolm’s mom, said.
Malcom McGregor is in the middle of a two-year battle with cancer. Christmas Eve of 2018, he got the diagnosis of stage 4 neuroblastoma. It’s a rare cancer in the brain most seen in children.
Countless treatments followed until August when he was declared cancer free. The McGregor’s felt relieved, and started planning their cancer-free future.
“We let ourselves get hope, and we hadn’t had hope in the last year and a half to that point,” McGregor said.
By the end of the week, Malcolm had a relapse.
“That week ended in devastation,” McGregor said emotionally.
By that point, Konkol had been following the journey. He saw when Malcolm was first diagnosed, and he was heartbroken to hear that the cancer had come back. That made the choice for who to support this year a no-brainer.
“The choice became pretty clear to us that it made sense to choose Malcolm,” Konkol said.
On the opening night of the light show on Nov. 27, Malcom was able to press the button to kick it off. In normal years, they raise about $2,000 to $3000. But this year has seen incredible turnout in just a week.
“This year, so far, we are almost up to 3,000 [dollars] already,” Konkol said.”
Malcolm still has a long way to go, but a light show with a cause is helping him get there.
The light show is on 2730 31st Street South in Wisconsin Rapids from 5 pm to 10 pm each night. Konkol says it’s best to come during the week to see the full show and avoid traffic.
A donation box is located there, but if you aren’t able to go to the house, you can make a donation at this PayPal link.
Copyright 2020 WSAW. All rights reserved.
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Wisconsin Rapids light show entertains visitors, benefits child with cancer - WSAW
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