What Alzheimer's didn't take from Carl Rudd, the auction did.

        When it was over, the sensational Rudd Christmas Farm in Adams County was nothing more than the farm — and all Mr. Rudd had left was the spirit of Christmas to keep him going.

Judy and Carl Rudd on their farmhouse porch last December. (Enquirer file photo) | ZOOM |

        It was enough, the 72-year-old said Thursday. “I just really enjoy Christmas. That's my whole life, anyway.”

        Today, Mr. Rudd says he will open his farm again for Christmas. But instead of 200,000 visitors, millions of lights and dozens of displays, there is only a small display and a garage where carolers will hark the herald.

        “I think people will enjoy it more,” said Mr. Rudd, who last Christmas could barely remember his own name. “It won't be big. It'll be small. There'll be gospel singing, like it was when we first started.”

        That was more than 36 years ago, when the Rudd family lived in Dayton. Then the display was meant to encourage friendship, provide a gathering place.

        Mr. Rudd said he and his wife, Judy, built the garage with help from 10 children and 27 grandchildren. It has a small seating area and stage.

        “We've got some singers coming in from West Virginia. I'll be singing,” Mr. Rudd said. “It will let people come in and do whatever.”

        That's a long way from what the Cassel Run Road farm had evolved into after nearly four decades.

        After moving to Blue Creek in 1969, Mr. Rudd's lighted tribute to Christmas spread from acre to acre. By 1982, about 100,000 people stopped to see the display, and by the late 1990s, the number had increased to an estimated 200,000. Mr. Rudd never charged admission, but he did start taking donations to help cover the electricity bills.

        “It got so big we couldn't handle it,” Mr. Rudd said, adding that he got so sick he couldn't operate it. “I had Alzheimer's so bad that I'd get into the hills and forget how to wire things up. Used to be with two fingers, I could turn on a million lights.”

        But last year, when the Alzheimer's got worse, the family auctioned off the Christmas fixtures; the lights went dark; and Mr. Rudd didn't know if he'd ever get them on again.

        “We've got it looking real nice,” he said. “This is the first time in 25 years I'm looking forward to reopening.”

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