WILLMAR, Minn. – Sometimes when we give the most of ourselves, we receive even more in return.
That's certainly been true for Chad Koosman, who lit the countryside to raise money for charity – and attracted the love of his life.
"I didn't know where I was going to find my wife, and sure enough the Christmas lights did it," laughs Chad.
Chad was 29 and becoming a bit anxious about his bachelor status when December rolled around, five years ago.
"You know, I would joke around with my mom, all I want for Christmas is a girlfriend," he laughs.
Chad had strung more than 100,000 lights around in his rural Willmar home that year and raised more than $42,000 in donations for The Salvation Army from people who came to see them.
Among them was Angie, a recent transplant to Willmar who drove out with her parents to see the lights.
"I had no idea what I was getting into," laughs Angie Koosman, now Chad's wife, and the mother of the couple's 19-month-old daughter Sophia.
"I always said I was never getting married, I was never having kids, I was going to be Miss Independent my entire life," she laughs. "All that changed when I moved to Willmar."
Chad proposed to Angie a year after they met - under the lights.
"It was part of saying 'I do,' I said 'I do' to Christmas lights too," Angie says.
This year the couple strung some 450,000 lights with help from their families and friends.
If stretched end to end, the cords and wires would cover 50 miles. The show is synchronized to music and anchored by three 50' tall Christmas trees.
Last year's show raised $135,000.
Since he started the Christmas light show in 2008, Chad's donations to The Salvation Army have topped $400,000 – much of that dropped off in a red kettle attended by volunteers near the entrance to the Koosmans' driveway.
"He has a kind, amazing, giving heart that gives back to whoever needs help," says Angie about her husband. It's part of what attracted her to Chad.
Chad credits his parents and his Christian faith for his giving spirit. As an 8th grader, he shoveled driveways in exchange for toys. Chad collected 50 of them which he donated to The Salvation Army.
"I'm 100 percent driven to try to make our world a little bit better of a place for everyone," says Chad, a lawn irrigation contractor. "There's hard working, deserving families where maybe they've had a spot in their lives where they just couldn't get out."
The giving has also extended to a handful of other couples who have become engaged under the Koosmans' Christmas lights.
"We want to make these lights just as special to others as they have been special to us," says Chad.
The Koosmans have extra reason to celebrate the holidays this year. They are expecting their second child in May.
Reflecting back on the past eight Christmas' since he hung his first light, Chad can only marvel at the changes.
"I was trying to celebrate the light of Jesus Christ, well he blessed me with my light of the world," he says. I mean life can't get any better than that."
The Koosmans' Christmas display - called "Celebrate the Light" - will remain on display through the holidays.
