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Foster Lambertus has created a large display of Christmas lights, known as Foster’s House of Christmas, in Midland, Georgia. The display is synchronized to music.
Credit: Mike Haskey / Ledger-Enquirer
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The creator of the largest Christmas lights display in Columbus retired. Meet his successor
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Foster Lambertus was among those throughout the Chattahoochee Valley whose holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Ludy’s Christmas Lights Spectacular.
And he was among the local residents saddened by the news last year, when Jerry Ludy decided he wouldn’t carry on with his more than 20 years of inviting the public to his Ironstone Drive home, where he raised over $200,000 for charity in donations from visitors to what was considered the largest and most popular Christmas lights display in Columbus.
But when you’re 19 years old and your mentor retires from this labor of love because, well, it just isn’t smart for a 70-year-old man to climb onto his roof anymore, you are compelled to take on the tradition. Foster is doing that this year with a lights show of his own.
So, if you visit the Lambertus home on Crosswinds Drive in Midland and you see Foster’s House of Christmas has some features similar to what you remember at Ludy’s, then you’ve been paying attention.
Foster won’t promise his display will match Ludy’s in size and popularity — at least not yet — but he is committed to spreading the same Christmas spirit.
Mentorship and friendship
For as long as he can remember, Foster has found lights and electricity to be fascinating.
“My dad still talks about me being like 2 years old and turning the lights on and off,” Foster told the Ledger-Enquirer.
In March 2019, Foster’s maternal grandmother, Barbara Graydon, just so happened to sit next to Ludy while they served jury duty. She told him about Foster’s love of Christmas lights, and Ludy asked for his email address.
Ludy wrote to Foster, “You just don’t know how excited I am about your interest in Christmas lights and decorating. . . . You remind me so much of myself, even now.”
That began their mentorship and friendship.
Ludy invited Foster, then age 14, to start learning the secrets to his Christmas lights display.
“My eyes immediately grew,” Foster recalled, “and my dreams blew to a whole new level.”
From 2019-23, Foster logged 420 hours of volunteer work helping Ludy construct his Christmas lights display, which ABC featured in a 2014 national TV show and the NBC Nightly News featured in a 2019 segment.
Lessons beyond lights
Beyond the technical parts of this project, such as building frames for the figures and custom wiring the lights, Foster learned an invaluable life lesson from Ludy.
“Mr. Ludy did this for those who needed a light in the darkness: couples who wanted to use a childhood memory for an engagement, those who could not afford Callaway Gardens Fantasy in Lights, and even a place where community members could meet and take pictures with a volunteer Santa at no charge,” Foster wrote in a summary of his project. “Mr. Ludy always said, ‘It’s not about the lights, but about the memories and smiles that the lights give every child.’”
Foster graduated this year from Northside High School. He is majoring in electrical engineering at the University of Georgia. From the looks of his Christmas lights display, maybe this Bulldog already has earned his degree.
Ludy gifted to Foster some of his light displays, including the leaping frog that some may be familiar with, and has allowed him to borrow the 30-foot pixel tree they built and the reindeer set Ludy salvaged from the former Carmike Cinemas headquarters.
“My display may not be Ludy’s famed lights, but we have the same mission: to shine the light of Jesus on other people while giving children and adults that same magical feeling the Christmas lights still give me and Mr. Ludy,” Foster wrote.
Mentor proud of protege
Ludy, an environmental manager at the Kia plant in West Point, sees Foster as a super successor to carry on the tradition he established.
“He has that spirit, a good Christian boy, and that really excites me,” Ludy told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Ludy has gone from receiving help from Foster to now helping his protege.
“We have a great relationship that we’ve built over the years,” Ludy said. “With his spirit and talent, he will go far in life, not just in Christmas lights. … His enthusiasm and willingness to go the extra mile speak volumes about his character.”
Ludy kept changing and growing his display each year because he wanted to keep surprising and delighting visitors. Foster is committed to doing the same.
“I can’t wait to see what his display will be in 10, 15, 20 years,” Ludy said.
Reason for the season
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Foster explained why he is compelled to construct such a grand Christmas lights display.
“I remember when I was at a very young age at my previous house, sitting on the end of the driveway and watching my neighbor across the street put up lights,” he said. “Now that I’m doing it, it makes me feel like I’m a kid. It brings that magical feeling inside of me.”
Foster appreciates the help from his family, as well as from Ludy and his son, Keith. He tries to strike the fine balance between honoring Ludy’s display and adding his own touch.
For example, when Foster told Ludy it would be “super cool” to stretch the reindeer set across his street, “he looked at me like I was crazy,” Foster recalled. But with help from his uncle, Jackson Graydon, Foster brought that idea into reality.
“It’s just coming up with your own dream and making it happen,” Foster said. “Mr. Ludy has had many of his dreams happen after people thought they were impossible, like his 30-foot Ferris wheel.”
Foster’s mother, Marion Lambertus, told the Ledger-Enquirer she and her husband fully support this project — even with the extra cost to their electric bill.
“We love to encourage all five of our children,” she said. “… God’s given them different desires, and the best way is to just let them do it. … We just wanted to make sure that he understood he’s still in college, and college needs to come first. But he’s always been driven. If he makes a goal, he’s going to accomplish it.”
The lights by the numbers
Ludy’s display started in 1995 and grew to approximately 500,000 bulbs in 2021 before he reduced the number to about 200,000 in 2023, connected by 3,000 feet of extension cords.
Foster estimated his display comprises more than 100,000 dancing lights and 2,500 feet of extension cords. He spent 60-80 hours doing the computer programming to control the lights, and he started constructing the display in October, driving home each weekend from Athens.
Foster’s House of Christmas operates from 6-10 p.m. each night during the holiday season through New Year’s Eve. Festive music synchronized with the lights can be heard outside the house and on 90.1 FM while watching the display.
Not only is Foster thankful his neighbors haven’t complained to his family about the noise and traffic, but he revels in seeing and hearing visitors enjoy the results of his work.
“It’s 100% worth all the time and stress that went into this,” he said. “When they’re oohing and aahing and pointing, I love it.”
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
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