Stone County Republican / Crane Chronicle
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Everybody is invited to celebrate with Lives Under Construction

November 26, 2020
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The Lives Under Construction (LUC) Boy’s Ranch and its partners in the Shell Knob community have gone to considerable lengths to organize a drive-through Christmas light display.
The first ever LUC Christmas display will be available at no cost to the public throughout the Tri-Lakes area, starting Friday December 8 and ending on  December 20. The event will run from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. each day.
“When we first had the idea to do this,” explained Mona Downs, a teacher at the ranch, “We wanted it to be like Silver Dollar City but, after doing some of the work and putting up some lights, we realized how much it actually takes to have a display like that.” The ranch will be displaying the Shell Knob VFW’s much-loved “Christmas Tree Lane.” The aforementioned display, a local holiday favorite, had been put up at the VFW every Christmas season during years past. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, they will not be able to follow the custom this year. This display had been growing larger and more elaborate each year as the members of the VFW expanded their Christmas Tree collection. According to Mona, the display they had put up in recent years had become quite an amazing thing to behold. Not wanting their beloved display to go to waste in 2020, The members of the VFW, have donated the entire event to LUC to use for their event. “This is such a great community,” Mona said, “We just want to make the Boy’s Ranch Christmas drive-through our gift to them, and it’s meant to be a big thank you from us here at the ranch for all their support.”
LUC teaches the boys several different trades .which include woodworking, auto repair, welding, and farming and animal husbandry. As families drive up to the start of the display, cookies and treats will be handed out, and items made by the boys in the trade shops will be available for purchase. All proceeds from that sale will be used to cover the non-profit substantial operating costs of the ranch.
Visitors will see classic cars draped in lights, lots of Christmas Trees, and lit-up antique tractors. “Hopefully we will have booths hosted by churches and other area organizations, which we’ve invited to participate,” said Downs. “We’ll have a live Nativity and a petting zoo for families. We’ve got a stage set up where the Boy’s Ranch Choir and the choirs from any churches in the area wishing to participate, will sing Christmas carols.”
The ranch is also a tree farm, the produce of which will be made available to guests at the time of their Visit. If you’re looking to plant some trees on your property or if you haven’t got your Christmas tree yet, don’t forget to ask about it.

All content copyright Stone County Publishing Co. Inc.
The Stone County Republican/Crane Chronicle
P.O. Box 401, Crane, Missouri 65633
Phone: 417-723-5248      Fax: 417-723-8490
  • Home
  • Inside This Week's Issue
    • Child nearly drowns in James River near Galena
    • Local businesses destroyed in overnight Buttonwood Center fire
    • Man sentenced in Billy Mack Walker murder case
    • Former garment factory building on the north side of Crane is for sale
    • Man sentenced for charges involving high speed pursuit
    • Kimberling City officer takes home crown at first responder pageant
    • Weekly Stock Market Insights
    • Crane woman seriously injured in motorcycle crash
    • Local students named to Missouri State University’s spring 2022 dean’s list
  • This Week's Issue
  • Archive
  • Our History
  • Place Ad
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Form
  • Subscribe
  • Stock Market Insights