Caldwells kick off Christmas

By Lethbridge Herald on November 22, 2025.

The Caldwell family is ready to kick off their food and toy collection and welcome members of the community to their front yard display on Sunday from 4:30 to 8 p.m. at 126 Red Crow Blvd West.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Caldwell family is ready to welcome members of the community tomorrow to their eight annual Christmas with the Caldwells kick-off party, to begin collecting toys for the Salvation Army Toys for Tots campaign and non-perishable food for the Lethbridge Food Bank. 

Chandel and Vince Caldwell have been gathering support from the community for the last seven years to support the Toys for Tots Campaign and the Lethbridge Food Bank during the holiday season. 

The Caldwells are known for their festive spirit, which is showcased in their front yard display among hundreds of lights that not only literally light up the neighbourhood, but also the mood of those who stop by to enjoy the hundreds of thousands of lights every year. 

“Last year was great, we hit all our goals. We collected 3,500 pounds worth of food and 700 toys,” said Vince. 

He said they were told last year by the Salvation Army that they were their largest toy donors within the city. 

“Which is great because it is all from the community, we don’t buy the toys. Which makes me sad, if we don’t do it there will be a big gap in toy donations,” said Vince. 

This year, Vince is bringing a twist to the tradition by challenging the community to raise above previous years during the kick-off party event. 

“I am challenging the community to bring in 1,000 pounds of food during the kick-off. If we reach that goal, I will decorate the backyard for people to walk through,” said Vince. 

He said last year during the kick-off event, they reached 650 pounds worth of food in that single day, so he believes his 1,000 pounds goal is achievable. 

“The idea behind that is to encourage people to bring in food that day, because usually what happens is that we get the largest amount that one day and then it begins to trickle down,” said Chandel. 

She said this way, if they reach their 1,000-pound goal and it starts to trickle down, they only have 3,000 pounds to go for their goal this year of 4,000 pounds worth of food. 

As for the kick-off event happening on Nov. 23, Chandel said the annual traditions continue with the horse and carriage rides, hot chocolate, and roasting of marshmallows on the driveway. 

“Something new this year is carollers, and they will be here from 4:30 to 5:30 and once the horses start, we will play some music. The horses will be here from 5:30 to 7:30,” said Chandel.  

She said as the horses have become so popular, people attending should be aware that there might be a lineup. 

“Come ready for that, and dress for the weather, because we have a fire on the driveway but not by the line while you wait for the horses,” said Chandel. 

She said they will have containers for toy donations and food donations on their front yard during the kick-off event, and throughout the holiday season. People can stop by any time and drop off their donations. 

“We will have our lights on from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day after the kick-off event and people can stop by anytime to drop off their donations,” said Chandel. 

She said people can enter their name for a chance to win a prize from Santa’s Bag Giveaway when they drop off their donations. 

“We created that as incentive for people to bring donations. At the end of the season, we put all the names in a hat and grab a few names out of it,” said Chandel. 

She said this year some of the giveaways include a $100 Visa gift card, a gift basket, Lethbridge Hurricanes tickets for a family of four, a $100 gift certificate to the Italian Table, a King room stay at the Sandman Signature Hotel and a $100 gift card for Pure Casino Lethbridge for food and beverage. 

She said they will update their social media pages with what is needed and how the collection is going. 

“We will check up with them (both organizations) to know what they need, and we will let the community know, so they can stop by and help us fulfill those specific needs when they come up,” said Chandel. 

When talking about how many lights are on display, Vince said there are nearly 200,000 lights on display in their front yard. Last year they had 150,000 lights. 

“We have 54 trees in the yard, so that helped increase the light count. The tree in the middle has 5,000 lights on it,” said Vince. 

Lt. Zach Marshall, with the Salvation Army said the Caldwells have been amazing supporters of the Toys for Tots campaign and their donations are ones that they look forward to every year. 

“To have this family supporting us in this way and taking the initiative to plan is amazing,” said Marshall. “One thing is for us to approach businesses or individuals in our community and ask if they would be able to support us, but we really do appreciate people come to us wanting to support us.”