Fading Tradition?
Announcement of final Pastega Christmas Lights Display evokes Corvallis community disappointment.
BY ERIN JIMERSON
Dec. 12, 2023
Children stand through car sunroofs, eyes wide with wonder. Their chubby fingers point out familiar characters as they roll slowly on by. Shrieks of excitement blend with the familiar tunes of tinny Christmas carols echoing through the air. Thousands of colorful lights adorn each display, creating a magical spectacle contrasted with the darkness of the night.
It's a moment worth remembering. But will these children be the last generation to experience this beloved Corvallis tradition?
Choir display at the Pastega Christmas Lights
On November 15, 2023 it was publicly announced on Facebook that this Christmas season will mark the final year that the Pastega Christmas Display will be operating under the Pastega family’s management. Corvallis residents have been vocal about expressing their disappointments surrounding this decision online. The post generated 105 comments and 103 shares, leaving many people reminiscing about their memories of the "Pepsi Lights" that they hold so dearly from over the decades.
As one Corvallis resident driving through the display put it, "We feel like [this is] terrible and they should come up with a different option. The city should take it over. This is a tradition that has gone back forever." Many people suggested that there should be a stronger emphasis on finding more volunteers to keep the display running.
The reasoning behind the decision to close operations goes deeper than a lack of volunteers, however. To understand the full context behind this decision, history must be traced back 42 years.
Where It All Began
Source: Ja San Miguel on Unsplash
The Pastega Christmas Display has been operating in Corvallis, Oregon since 1981. Founded by Mario and Alma Pastega, it quickly became a local landmark and family favorite activity during the holiday season. Hundreds of unique characters and scenes have been created and collected over the years, originally all hand-painted by Alma Pastega herself.
Mario Pastega was a prominent businessman, owning several Pepsi-Cola bottling plants and the Romano’s Italian Soda Company in Corvallis, in addition to a couple of local radio stations and businesses around Southern Oregon. The Christmas lights display was orginally operated out of one of these Pepsi-Cola bottling plants, until it was later transitioned to the Benton County Fairgrounds.
Ken Pastega, their son, explained that the idea behind the display's creation was originally inspired by his grandparents.
Display of Mario and Alma Pastega
"When we were kids our grandparents lived in Mt. Shasta, California," he recalled. "And they had a Christmas contest where people would put up Christmas scenes. So we would go down there as kids we’d always drive down for Christmas, and we’d go to all of these competitive Christmas displays."
In 1980 Ken's parents drove back down to Shasta to recover these displays. Alma Pastega painted new displays of characters to add to the family's growing Christmas collection. Over the years, most of her original paintings have been re-painted as they've worn out, all except for one.
"The only thing that hasn’t been repainted is the backdrop, my mom did all of that," explained Ken.
Original painting backdrop by Alma Pastega
Mario and Alma weren’t alone in bringing the display to life in 1981, however. A man named Ole Brensdal was the woodworking magician that transformed Alma's characters into free-standing cutout displays. But Brensdal didn't stop there. He was also gifted with animatronics, and brought characters like E.T., Santa, and Christmas elves to life through movement.
Brensdal was a faithful and hard worker, helping the Pastegas with the display into his early 80’s. He mechanized 16 characters within the display throughout his time volunteering. As written in the display acknowledging his faithful contributions: "His two favorite words when asked by Mario if he could do a task where ‘No problem.’”
Animatronic displays that Brensdal created
Combined with his business skills and Alma's artistic abilities, the final quality that brought the display together was Mario's commitment to philanthropy. Over the course of his lifetime, he contributed to numerous efforts that benefited the Corvallis community. One standout example is the Mario Pastega House, which was designed to be a "home away from home" for Good Samaritan Hospital residents and family members traveling from far distances to receive medical care.
After working on the display tirelessly for years, Alma Pastega passed away in 2008, preceeded by Mario Pastega who passed away in 2012. Even after their passing, however, the display lived on.
Continuing the Legacy
Ken Pastega and Dana Strowbridge stand outside of the entrance to the display
After the passing of Mario and Alma Pastega, Ken's daughter Gina told him, “Dad, you've got to get that Christmas display back.” Initially Ken was hesitant, understanding the amount of work it would take. After considering the effort, however, he remembered the way children light up when they drive through the display. He took over management in 2012.
The display was in the process of being moved to the Benton County Fairgrounds when Dana Strowbridge heard there was a need for volunteers. “I saw that they were going to be doing some work and building stands, and I can do that, so I thought, ‘I'm doing it,’” said Strowbridge. “I had a great time and just kept coming back.” With her background in helping her husband build houses, she had the experience and knowledge for the job. She's been involved ever since, now tasked with organizing all of the volunteers.
During the first year that the display was repaired and moved to the fairgrounds, Pastega estimates that around $60,000 was spent to get everything ready for the public. In the process of his parents passing, the characters had been kept outside and neglected, leaving them in need of a serious face lift. Most of the displays needed to be cleaned and repainted.
In the years following that initial startup, an estimated $30,000 has been spent annually to power the thousands of lights, maintain the displays, feed volunteers, and power the equipment used to transport everything. According to this article by Here is Oregon, it takes around four weeks to set everything up, and about a week and a half to tear down the nearly 250 displays all over again.
Pastega noted that every year the preparation to get the display ready feels like crunch time. He recalled how one year the display was not yet finalized for the public, but the cars started rolling through anyway. This eagerness within the Corvallis community to experience the free Christmas lights display is carried throughout the estimated 90,000 visitors that drive through annually.
Ken Pastega points out some of the original displays
Community Impact
Over the years the Pastega Christmas Display has made a memorable mark on the Corvallis community, largely due to the fact that it brings local residents together to experience something special—regardless of their socioeconomic status or background.
Keeping consistent with the philanthropic nature of the late Mario Pastega, the display further benefits the local community by encouraging a canned food drop off. Pastega noted that they collect between seven and eight thousand pounds of food per year, which goes directly back to supporting local residents in need.
An additional way that the display has brought in the community's input and help over the years has been through the displays themselves. As the years went on, there was a recognized need to create new displays that were relevant to the younger generations. The solution? Local highschool artists.
Strowbridge has helped organize the efforts to bring in local highschools to create these more relevant characters, and the results have not been disappointing. Pastega mentioned that when Philomath Highschool created characters from the Star Wars franchise he was shocked. "The artwork is amazing," he said.
Finding Nemo characters made by students at Santiam Christian and Crescent Valley Highschools
A myriad of new characters have been added to this updated collection, from Elsa and Anna to Batman to Harry Potter. These new additions "Brought the community into [the display]," noted Pastega, "Because it really is a community display. Our name might be on it, but the community getting involved has been the fun part about it."
The Future of the Display
Although the display has created such a fond place in the hearts of Corvallis residents, the time has now come for it to see an end. Pastega and Strowbridge are well aware of the community's love for the display, yet also acknowledge the commitment it has required to manage every holiday season for the past 42 years.
Many Corvallis community members believe that if there were simply more volunteers the display could continue. “The issue is not needing more volunteers, it's managing it.” said Pastega. “That’s the whole thing. I’ve done it for 10 years. I look at it and I go, my grandkids are all over the place. I would rather be spending time with them, than here.”
This doesn't mean the infinite end of the display, however. Pastega and Strowbridge are open to the idea of someone else taking over, one one condition. "It's going to stay intact," said Strowbridge. “People think that if it's not going to be going anymore that it's going to be sold off." Both were clear about the fact that the display will remain as one collection, waiting for the right person to come along who is willing to take on the responsibility of running the entire operation.
Some Corvallis residents believe that it is up to the younger generations to take on the responsibility of keeping the display running. One woman noted that, "I hope someone takes it over. I understand why [it is closing]. But I think that [the youth] need to take it over."
Cars drive through the indoor portion of the display
Many Corvallis residents hold strong opinions about the announcement to stop the display. Many have been driving through the lights for decades, disappointed by the idea of no longer being able to do so. Yet will those who are quick to share what they believe is the solution be willing to follow through to create change? Or will they continue to drive through the display as one last hurrah, simply taking in the lights as their final memory of a fading tradition?
The Pastega Christmas Lights will be running from 5-10 p.m. every day until December 31. To learn more about the display, visit https://www.pastegachristmasdisplay.com/. To get in contact, fill out the form on their website.