Jennings Osborne

[betamike]

Rarely has there ever been Arkansas & Disney mentioned in the same breath (well, except for me - HA!).   For those who haven't heard yet, Jennings Osborne passed yesterday.   The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights showed you how just a little Ozarkian ingenuity can amaze people at the Happiest Place on Earth.  This year's display should really be amazing in honor of him.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/jul/27/jennings-osborne-philanthropist-dazzling-lights-di/

[DollarCityBoy]

Wow, this was the first I had heard of this actually.

I grew up & live in Little Rock. Many a year we drove by the Osborne home to look at all the lights. We were sad when the neighbors were against him and made him take them all down, all that was left was a crying angel.

Disney and many other places, such as Hot Springs were blessed to receive all of his wonderful christmas displays.

[betamike]

DollarCityBoy - Me too!  I remember being in all that traffic one year seeing the display before it got taken down.  It was neat to see it in a real neighborhood.

[Duelist]

A local Little Rock radio show used to call his house "Fort Cantrell" because of the road it was on and the wall surrounding the house.  I too remember all the red Christmas lights.

[Junior]

This guy deserves the title "MR. CHRISTMAS OF ARKANSAS!" When his huge light display got too big for local officials to let it continue, he split up the lights, sent some to the Disney people, and to other places so the public could see it. All best wishes to the family.

[Ozark Outlaw]

I remember the dazzling Christmas lights as a kid. I also remember how upset some of the neighbors got because of all of the traffic congestion his Christmas home spectacle caused.

He was also a big promoter of the fireworks display down on the riverfront. He was definitely a community geared individual.