Christmas may only come around one time of year, but for Chad Barnard, it comes every minute of every day. Chad’s Winter Wonderland has been evolving for the past 42 years, building and growing to bring holiday joy.
“My infatuation for Christmas lights began as a kid, at 12 years old I hung my first stand, and at 15 I made the newspaper with my display,” he says.
In the 90s Chad started selling Christmas trees to offset the cost of lights and electricity, and to meet the demand he created a drive-thru display in 2000.
As the creation grew Chad says people started asking for Santa to make appearances, but with weather challenges, he decided to build an entire structure for Santa. In 2006 he thought it would be fun to dress up as Frosty the Snowman sometimes, but when news got around, visitors were disappointed when Frosty wasn’t there.
“Frosty and then the Grinch would make occasional appearances, but when people would come and they weren’t there, they would be sad, so I built them their own buildings too,” he explained.
The wonderland is sprawled across eight acres where Chad’s parents built their home when he was two years old, and expanded a few years ago when his sister purchased four adjoining acres to complete the current 12 acres. The family affair adorns a drive-thru concession stand with memorabilia, cocoa, and the local favorite cinnamon bread.
“Some people love to play golf, I just enjoy Christmas lights,” Chad says, explaining his greatest influence was Conway Twitty, “Conway had a walk thru light display at his home in Hendersonville, I was able to talk to him and purchase lights after his estate auction after he passed away.”
Chad travels throughout Tennessee collecting to add and replace displays, beginning his setup right after the state fair packs up. He recalled his favorite pickup was a garage filled to the brim with decorations. The woman told him she and her husband were getting divorced and the only thing they could agree on was that they wanted him to have their collection.
“I love that even if someone comes in mad as a hornet because they didn’t know they had to pay to drive through the display, they can’t help but leave smiling and laughing,” he says, “that’s what brings me joy.”
If you are looking to avoid the crowds, midweek is definitely the best time to enjoy the 20-30 minute cruise. At just $25 per carload, it’s the perfect excuse to pile the family into one vehicle for forced family fun togetherness this and every season.