Feel-Good Friday: NY Teenager Creates a Spectacular Christmas Lights

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One of my favorite parts of the Rankin-Bass classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” is where Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius, and Hermey the Elf end up on the Island of Misfit Toys. The toys just wanted to be loved by a child, and after Rudolph was welcomed back to Christmastown, and to take his place leading Santa’s sleigh, he let Santa know about the Misfit Toy Island. Santa retrieved these formally rejected toys, and they were able to find their place with a child who wanted and needed them. They could now be happy because they were now able to fulfill their purpose in bringing happiness to a child.

Young Andrew Reid saw treasure in what others considered trash and he decided to create a beautiful display from what others had discarded and considered broken or misfit. Reid’s Christmas vision is the subject of this pre-Christmas Feel-Good Friday.

Hat tip to our beloved Becca Lower for finding this gem.

One man’s trash is Andrew Reid’s treasure.

The 19-year-old EMT-in-training from East Northport in Suffolk County is spreading holiday cheer with his dazzling Christmas lights display, built almost entirely from refurbished decorations.

Dubbed “Misfit Island,” the display features nearly 100,000 light sand more than 500 decorations, thanks to contributions from the community.

“I was trying to raise money for kids with illnesses so I thought why not do a display and save things from the landfill as well,” Reid said.

Pure genius. Reid’s “Misfit Island Christmas Spectacular” is on Oxbow Court in East Northport, Long Island, and runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST every night. He is collecting donations for the Ronald McDonald House at Stony Brook University.

“It’s a charity that’s local and is partnered with Stony Brook Hospital and they’re good people. I said I’m going to raise money for their foundation because I know it’s going to go to good use — for the right reasons,” Reid said.

According to the NY Post article, Reid has raised “thousands,” but wants to keep the full amount a secret until the holiday season is complete.

About 85 percent of the 500 or so decorations: Santas, reindeer, snowmen, etc., Reid retrieved from the trash over a four-year period. Reid started putting this display together in August, and it is significantly larger than the previous year. Reid also has invited others to be a part of it–by bringing a new ornament, a broken ornament, or something they have made to add to the display.

The display has become a labor of love for Reid, who invites the community to get involved by bringing ornaments for his newly added “misfit tree.”

“If anyone wants to bring their Christmas tree ornaments they could put it on the tree and then your ornaments will be part of my display, and you could see it every year,” he said.

Reid’s project started out as a family competition during the pandemic. Reid noticed the large amounts of broken lights and smashed decorations bring discarded at the curb each year, so Reid and his siblings decided to make it a mission to bring them back to life.

“Everyone sees them as garbage, and so did I,” Reid said. “But after seeing so many of these things — and passing up on them, because they’re garbage to me at this point — I saw this polar bear.

“I couldn’t pass up on it,” he went on. “I took it home, tinkered around with it, was able to fix it up and it became easy after that.”

At first, the four siblings competed to see who could mend the most decorations each year — until Reid launched into a fully fledged, self-taught rehabilitation effort.

“I was able to figure out how electricity works, how positive and negative works, how the neutral works on all these things,” Reid said.

This year, one man drove over an hour to take part of this Christmas magic.

“It’s about giving back it’s what we should do,” said one man who drove more than an hour to donate to Reid’s blessed mess. “It’s what we should do this time of year.”

Reid’s commitment to build something new from what is broken, while bringing hope to sick children, and light and joy to his community, embodies the Christmas story. In the most unlikely of towns and unusual circumstances, a young girl gave birth to a baby who immediately drew the world to his light. Angels and shepherds: the most glorious creatures of creation and the misfits of society, came together to proclaim the Christ child’s birth. And the light—the brightest star—led wise men bearing gifts to worship him. The normal person, the misfit, the broken and discarded, all drawn together by the light of the world.

Andrew Reid’s display has created something beautiful from broken things and is drawing others in to give of themselves, to give out of their own lack or brokenness, but most of all, TO GIVE.

Here are my best wishes for a very, Merry Christmas!