BEMIDJI -- At the ripe young age of 10, Riley Pochardt was mesmerized by some of the homes on the Bemidji Jaycees First City of Lights Tour of Homes. Now, at age 14, he has his own holiday display on the tour.
It’s a goal Riley set for himself four years ago.
“He started out with just a little bit,” said Riley’s mom, Jennifer Deeds, “and then the last two years that’s all he’s wanted for his birthday. So we go the day after Christmas and we buy all of his birthday presents. For his birthday, which is in April, he gets all Christmas lights.”
The house and yard at 5252 Elmwood Court NE, just off Big Bass Road, actually first caught the Jaycees’ attention in 2019, but this year it’s even more impressive. Especially when you consider the teenager does all the work himself.
It includes lights along the roof of the house, lights wrapped around trees and on spiral trees. This year he built a sleigh out of plywood, added a North Pole sign and a star slide coming off a tree.
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“He does it all,” Jennifer said. “I have nothing to do with it. He gets out there in September and starts on it. He’s bugging me in August to get started. I made him wait until the end of September this year. But he’s raring to go every fall.”
The real excitement comes when cars of onlookers start arriving.
“It feels kind of good because sometimes there’s people that just stop and they sit there and stare at it for a long time,” Riley said. “That’s kind of cool.”
