by Carolyn Bertsch
news@thenewsleaders.com
Darlene and Tom Tauber have lit up Sauk Rapids for 20 years.
The couple decorates for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter and Halloween. They work together; Darlene sets out the lights and creates the design and Tom hangs them. The arrangements started small and ordinary but have gradually grown to a spectacular level. Their biggest arrangement is the Christmas display numbering 12,000 lights. This layout brings them to maximum capacity as connecting any more lights begins to blow fuses. Their second largest arrangement was their Halloween display until two years ago when many of their decorations were stolen and never recovered.
When asked why they do it, Darlene said, “We don’t do it for ourselves, we do it for the community.”
Their elaborate designs have grown in size and popularity due to the appreciation, encouragement and anticipation of both friends and strangers. Residents often inquire about when the Taubers will be decorating for the next holiday. Throughout the years they have received many anonymous notes and letters of appreciation, decoration donations, and even a loaf of banana bread and a bottle of wine for their efforts, but most cherished are the memories they’ve collected as a result of giving light to the community they love.
“One Christmas season, Tom and I left the house for a few hours and returned to find so many people looking at the lights that we couldn’t get back in the driveway!” Darlene said with a laugh.
The Taubers decided to take the opportunity to go for a drive until the masses had cleared.
Another memory Darlene shared was of a young couple who were engaged and had seen the Taubers’ Valentines display of a heart with a bow and arrow shooting through it. This was an accessory the Taubers had hired someone to custom-design. The couple asked if they could borrow the heart to hang on a barn for their wedding in Gilman to which the Taubers happily agreed. The shooting heart was a favorite for many years but has since become non-functional.
A favorite encounter Darlene shared was about a young boy and his mother who visited their house for Halloween. The Tauber residence was decked out in Halloween gear including not only lights but a bubbling cauldron and some witches’ brooms standing at the ready. Darlene was dressed as a witch and the little boy was scared at first, but Darlene won his affection with her kind and bubbly personality and compliments on his costume – particularly his necklace which had lights on it. She commented he would be safe since drivers could see his necklace. Later that evening the boy and his mother returned to the Tauber home. As Darlene readied to hand him some more candy, he handed her his necklace instead. He told her he wanted all the other witches to be able to see her when she flew away on her broom later that night.
Tom and Darlene Tauber have been married 43 years and have one daughter, Chantelle Mrosla, who lives in Rice, and three grandchildren – Tristan, 13; Lydia, 6; and Evelyn, 3. When Tom is not hanging lights, he keeps busy as the district commander of 39 districts of the VFW in Minnesota, and he also works as a tornado-spotter. Darlene, an avid gardener, finds her “second obsession” between the months of spring and fall when she paints her landscape with bright red shades of 450 impatiens, a flower that thrives in shaded areas.
“It’s just another way we color our corner of the world and bring smiles to faces,” Darlene said.
The Taubers lights are turned on at dusk and can be seen at their home at 3104 Mayhew Lake Road, Sauk Rapids, which is situated between the Sauk Rapids High School and the Firing Line Indoor Gun Range.
The Tauber home as seen on Jan 31 is decorated with a multitude of Valentine’s Day lights.
Darlene and Tom Tauber
