Jeff Rutt

🎄 Member Spotlight: Jeff Rutt

📍 Verrado, AZ
✨ Display: The Lights on Evergreen
💡 Software: FPP & xLights
🎅 Lighting Since: 2019

🌐 Website: https://thelightsonevergreen.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelightsonevergreen/
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LightsInVerrado

If you’ve ever wondered how quickly this hobby can take hold of someone… just ask Jeff.

Like many of us, Jeff’s journey started with a simple family tradition — driving around looking at Christmas lights. In December 2018, he and his wife stumbled across Lights on Maui in Surprise. What he saw that night changed everything.

The lights weren’t just blinking — they were dancing. They told a story. They created a feeling. Jeff stood there like a kid again, completely in awe. Before leaving, he did something out of character — he knocked on the door.

Instead of brushing him off, Chris, the owner, welcomed him in and spent 45 minutes sharing his passion, explaining the technology, and showing what was possible. Jeff left inspired… not just by the lights, but by what was possible.

That night, he couldn’t sleep.

Jeff sat at the computer researching pixels and sequencing until 4:00 a.m., completely consumed by this new idea that maybe — just maybe — he could create something like that for his family and community.

The next day, he asked his wife if he could buy just 50 pixels “to see if (he) could make them go blinky-blinky.” By the end of January 2019, he had built his first controller and had lights glowing in the garage. It wasn’t much — but to him, it was magic.

Then came the turning point. His wife asked:

“What would it take to turn this into a musical light show?”

Jeff smiled and said:

“Just give me the Discover card… and don’t ask any questions.”

Months of trial and error followed — building two F16 controllers (including a 16-port expansion), figuring out prop mounting without drilling into stucco (a non-negotiable.) Eventually Jeff purchased 10,000 lights and multiple props that first year. The garage slowly turned into a workshop. The hobby turned into an obsession. And the obsession turned into a vision. By December 2019, the vision became reality.

The Lights on Evergreen launched its first musical Christmas light show.

Today, Jeff’s display features addressable RGB lights and coro props, including a stunning 42-panel (6x7) P5 matrix and a 180-degree mega tree with 32 strands of 150 pixels at 1-inch spacing. One upgrade that made a huge difference? Replacing three window frames with tightly spaced matrix panels — a change that elevated the visual impact dramatically.

But what makes this hobby meaningful isn’t just the pixels.

One of Jeff’s most memorable moments came when a group from a Memory Care Center arrived in a van. He made space for them front and center so they could fully enjoy the show — a reminder that these displays are about more than technology. They’re about joy.

When he’s not sequencing or building, you’ll likely find Jeff fishing or camping with his wife — recharging before the next lighting season begins.

What started as a simple night out looking at lights became something much bigger — a tradition, a passion, and a way to bring joy to others during the most meaningful time of the year.

Jeff’s story is a reminder of what this community is all about: inspiration, courage, and creativity… and it all started with one knock on a stranger’s door.