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\u201cAfter the show, the crowds got really, really busy and crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was great for a lot of reasons. People who didn\u2019t even know about it [before], now knew we were here and came through. We had 600 cars a night on a slow night, and on a busier night we were pushing through 1800 cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The show has also raised hundreds of dollars for local charities. That\u2019s something that both Winton and his family are proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI figured out that I could give something back to people in the community that cost them nothing but could also raise funds for charity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winton said that each year the people\u2019s reaction to the show is heartwarming for both him and his family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt still surprises me, the number of people that do see the show.\u201d he said. \u201cPeople travel from so far away. Every year, I redo the whole show programming. We\u2019re always adding and taking things out, or even bringing them back. People who have come to the show over the years have their favorite things and will ask to have them brought back. We are happy to oblige.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also credits his family in helping to make this a possibility each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy father is a big influence in the show,\u201d said Winton. \u201cHe\u2019s great at figuring out things, and I\u2019ve learned a lot from him. My mom is the people person. She loves to talk to people and welcome them. It is a whole family situation. But the lights have actually gotten so big that we have to employ people to help. We also have such a tight timeline. It\u2019s all hands on deck to make sure everything gets up on time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Winton and his family\u2019s appearance on national television, Winton began to see a career of sorts open up for him.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter the TV show happened, I started getting all of these calls from people wanting me to do their house or commercial light displays. I figured out that this was what I wanted to do for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winton said he began to pick up a number of clients across the country, helping them with both private and commercial light displays. Currently he has over 70 clients for light displays, and he said as an entertainer at heart, this is his calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re an entertainer, you find different ways to entertain people. Just because you\u2019re an entertainer doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you have to be in front of people,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His love of entertaining has also spanned to opening a Magic Theater and haunted house in McMinnville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winton said that while helping his clients with their Christmas light displays, he began to think about other things that he loves and could pursue. First came the haunted house, Rigor Mortis, that Winton set up in a 40,000-square-foot space in the heart of McMinnville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI [had] always put on haunted houses at my grandmother\u2019s house,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn 2019, I found this building. With the 40,000 square feet, we built the haunted house upstairs and downstairs. There\u2019s nothing like it here. We love our community and want them to have something to come and enjoy, but we are also welcoming people from all over. We have people who drive eight hours or more to come and see the show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The haunted house then led to a Magic Theater that is also housed in the same location. The Magic Theater opened to the public in 2021 and features 90-minutes of unbelievable magic by Winton, who is a grand illusionist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy love of magic got started when I got my first magic kit. While that might sound cheesy, it was more of a growing love for it. So it started with Christmas lights, a haunted house, and now the theatre. I\u2019ve always loved the magic of entertaining.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the past 13 years, Manchester’s Winton family has worked tirelessly to construct a Christmas light show to delight the masses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-december"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DSC_6623-1-1024x1024.jpg\")
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