A holiday light show to raise money for sports scholarships for children from low-income families in Tuolumne County is back, and it runs from 6-9 p.m. every night December 1. 9 to 31.
The light show at 21768 Joyce Court is free for all, but as it is a fundraiser, donations are strongly encouraged.
Jim Cruff, 68, has been putting on annual light shows since before the pandemic. This year, he’s using eight computers in waterproof cases to sync lights and music, with an 18-song playlist that includes Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas,” Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark,” “Christmas Rock” by Toby Keith, “Dueling Jingle Bells” by the United States Navy Band and “YMCA” by the Village People. The show is advertised as having over 10,000 lights.
Cruff, founder of the nonprofit Tuolumne County Scholarship Foundation, said he came up with the idea to raise money so children from low-income families could play sports because his daughter is a gymnastics coach at American Sports Acro and Gymnastics on Seaborn Road, south of Phoenix Reservoir.
“They had kids who wanted to participate, but their families couldn’t afford the tuition,” Cruff said. My daughter told me that there must be a foundation in the area that offered these kinds of scholarships. We watched and watched and watched. We found nothing. We decided to create our own foundation. She saw the need.
Team tuition for organized youth sports like Little League baseball, softball, soccer, dance programs and gymnastics can cost up to $200 a month, Cruff said. He estimates that he and his daughter have raised funds for around 300 children’s scholarships since 2016. They held light shows in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and halted events in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19.
“We think this year is going to be safe, so we’re going ahead with the light show,” Cruff said. This light show is free for all, but donations are definitely encouraged. This is one of our biggest fundraisers we have during the year and it really helps us write more scholarships.
Cruff’s light show features characters from the animated television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” which featured Burl Ives voicing Sam the Snowman. It first aired in December 1964 and has been re-aired every year since.
“I love doing that kind of stuff and having people come over with their kids and say, ‘Wow, Sonora’s got nothing like that!’ said Cruff. “If it hadn’t been for the fundraiser, I’d still be doing the light show.”
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