ALTON, Ill. — The grandpa gang is back.
After three years of dealing with holiday grinches, the men hope this year will be different and moved forward with their popular light show in Alton that attracts thousands.
If the name 'Grandpa Gang' wasn't great enough. This group of silver-haired men will steal your heart with their actions.
"I think a lot of the guys are here because their wives wanted them to get out, get out from under their feet," said Grandpa Gang member Al Cowgill. "It's volunteer work, we don't get paid for this just hoping you'll do something for the community that they'll enjoy."
Every year on Black Friday, the gang lights up Rock Springs Park in Alton.
The Christmas light show proves to be a labor of love every year.
"I didn't realize how much work it was, but If I did maybe I wouldn't have volunteered," Cowgill said.
Last year, for the third time, grinches stole copper wiring from the park.
The theft brought Cowgill to tears.
"When we realized this, of course, it was a bad day but we decided then and this morning when we came in that we would take it down," he said last year.
While the Grandpa Gang did not have a lot of the same problems it had last year, it seems like it's always something. This year their issue wasn't with thieves, it was with Mother Nature.
"Oh it was bad," Marvin Bock said of the wind storm earlier this week. "Down here we got one [decoration] that's 40-foot long, we got five to eight panels and the whole thing blew over so we had to put all that back together."
Marvin Bock joined the gang this year.
"The wife volunteers me a lot," Bock said with a laugh.
He said it's not easy being in your 70s, retired and putting on such a large display.
That's why Cowgill said he's not sure if this will be his last year participating.
"I may be slowing down quite a bit."
But until then...
"We're gonna have a good turn out this year I think, everything's gonna work good," he said.
If you want to check out the display, the gang asks for a $7 donation per vehicle. Those proceeds will go toward charity and next year's display.
