Christmas in Muscatine is filled with many traditions, one of the staple pieces being the Christmas lights. One specific attraction is the most notable, Candy Cane Forest. The Candy Cane Forest is located on Cedar Street near the local YMCA.
Candy Cane Forest is a beautiful array of Christmas lights we many different decorations. It is created by Kevin Hilbrant, who has been doing it since 2016 here in Muscatine, as well as from 2006-2013 in Naperville Illinois. He has taken inspiration from his childhood in his lights.
“A lot of people my age talk about one of the elementary principals some of us had growing up. Mr. Lange put up a lot of lights on his very “stately” house on Mulberry. He was my kindergarten principal and he had a paddle in his office and was known for spanking kids in the 1970s. So you can’t spank kids anymore, and he never spanked me, but I wish he had, as it would be a great story that I got into it because I wanted to put up way more lights (which I have by the way) than the guy that spanked me as a kid for not finishing my milk,” said Mr. Hilbrant, “It’s a hobby. And also it’s a distraction. It keeps me off the couch and away from watching the news, worrying about the turmoil in the world or how bad Iowa’s offense is going to be in the Bowl game.”
The large display of lights is no easy task, and each year, Mr. Hilbrant devotes a lot of time, hard work, and dedication to his craft.
“This year, I did 127,000 lights (bulbs). I’ve kept time logs but lost track of them, and I have figured I usually put up about 2000 lights an hour. So, that’s about 70 hours spread out over a little over a month. Then, I have to take them down in January. It takes about half the time, so another 40 hours. Then I do a lot of tinkering, building new things, fixing lights during the year,” said Mr. Hilbrant.
Not only is time put into the setup but also the supplies needed to create it.
“On December 26th, lights go half price or better everywhere. That’s my hunting season. I will be at Walmart and pretty much empty the shelf of any lights that I think I will need for the next year. We only have one Walmart though, so I’ll for sure hit the Quad Cities, and there’s a lot of years I’ve gone to Chicago to buy them. Yes, son, I’ll drop you off at O’hare after Christmas because I’m going to hit the 5 Walmarts we pass along the way to get there,” said Mr. Hilbrant, “I have had some strands for over 15 years. I fix everything and only lose maybe ten strands a year. I currently have about 1900 strands of lights.”
For many people, they might see this as tedious and would not be willing to put in this sort of effort. But, for Mr. Hilbrant his favorite part is the planning and work rather than the end result.
“First and foremost it’s being outside in the late fall at night. And figuring out how to do new things to improve it. Going higher, covering the dark spots, being creative,” said Mr. Hilbrant, As an example, my other hobby that I most enjoy is long multi-night backpacking trips out West or down in the Smokies where it is always Bear Country. I’m always the one that is hanging the bear bag with all our food when we get into camp. It’s where you attach a rope to a rock and throw it over a branch and pull up the bag. One time when I was doing it, it dawned on me, there’s no bears in Iowa, but I could do this everywhere in my backyard, and instead of a bear bag, it’s a gigantic star or my flying pig, or an upside down tomato can with lights on it. It’s December now, and my lights are on but all I can see is the things that I could do next year.”
Every year, the Candy Cane Forest grows in size and numbers, so what is the end goal?
“‘I’ve put up over 100,000 lights now for 3 straight years, always adding, this year I’m at 127,000 lights. Did I mention that I have way more lights than Mr. Lange ever did? I think I will eventually phase it into just doing it better with the same amount of lights. But then again, getting to 150k is a really good number too,” said Mr. Hilbrant.
Despite his overwhelming win, Mr. Hilbrant does not participate in decoration wars brought up throughout the holiday season, in fact he encourages everyone to do it, “I don’t promote my lights or have a website or facebook page that calls attention to it. It’s not a competition. Anybody that gets into it and puts up a display and enjoys it can say they won the war. I have a great canvas, a lot of trees in the woods and a long street front,” said Mr. Hilbrant.
Everyone should get to join in on the fun of Christmas, either putting up decorations or sightseeing around town. Mr. Hilbrant enjoys the many reactions he endures throughout the season.
“My target demographic is old people, young kids, and myself, probably in the opposite order though. I was at a funeral for a good friend’s mother not long ago, and she had been in hospice, and they told me that to keep her spirits up that they would take her out to drive around and they would always drive by my lights. I said ‘Oh you mean last year’, and they said ‘No, she was just there the other day,’” said Mr. Hilbrant, “And, then the voices of little kids that you hear because they always have their windows rolled down. The other night, I heard a baby that couldn’t even talk yet, mumbling blah blah blah. It was kind of late so I think they were just trying to get the little baby to fall asleep. Another little kid pointed at my horse and said oh look at the llama, and I knew I didn’t have a llama, but I know I need to get one now.”
People around the community are very thankful for his work thanking him in person, some even bring him cookies, “If you have people that read this, Christmas sugar cookies are my favorite.” If you need something to do this Christmas, go take a look at the Candy Cane Forest, and maybe drop off some sugar cookies while you’re at it.
