'Like Christmas on steroids.' How an old dude ranch became a holiday wonderland

How I found out about the Christmas Ranch in Morrow, Ohio, doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I know about it now, and I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned. Maybe you already knew about the Christmas Ranch. Maybe you’ve been going with your family for years to admire the million-plus Christmas lights that emblazon this former dude ranch for most of November and December. If this is the case, I have one question for you: Why didn’t you tell me? This Christmas snowglobe spectacular is too cool to not share.

Nestled on a corner of a 110-acre property off the winding country road of Waynesville, the Christmas Ranch is the brainchild of Mike and Debbie Fuchs. To get in touch with them, I started with their website. A cozy instrumental rendition of “Jingle Bells” greets you on the homepage as your cursor transforms into a red lightbulb, a sign of Christmas things to come.

Santa, the dude

The website tells a charming story of how Santa and Mrs. Claus met, fell in love, raised a family in the North Pole, and eventually built a home on Terwilligers Knoll in Cincinnati, Ohio, because: They wanted a place where children and families could come to share the spirit of Christmas and enjoy the magic of the lights that was closer than the North Pole.

The place they found to set up their Christmas wonderland shop?

“This used to be an old dude ranch,” said Mike Fuchs, Christmas Ranch proprietor (along with his wife, Debbie) and very proud Christmas superfan. “They had about 30 head of horses. Cattle. Longhorn steers. Ducks. You name it. It was very rough.”

You can see elements of the dude ranch at the Christmas Ranch today – I mean, the name itself lends a Western air. Drive up the winding road to the entrance and you can take in the center of the village – a welcome center on the right, a massive fire pit, a life-size Nativity scene, the six shops that were converted from dude ranch shells – but most impressive are the lights. (And I didn’t even see it with the lights turned on!)

Oodles of lights. Over a million, to be a little more precise.

Nearly every available piece of infrastructure is wrapped in strings of Christmas lights. The pathway from the parking lot is a magical tunnel of lit arches with huge lit stars atop every arch. Poles are wrapped in lights, a life-size cattle figurine has lights wrapped on his horns and a wreath for a necklace. The shops are outlined in lights, and inside the shops too. I honestly can't fathom the utility bill.

“We’re crazy-crazy here,” said Mike Fuchs. “It’s like Christmas on steroids.”

Shoppin' around the Christmas tree

Each Christmas shop is decorated in its own unique way and stuffed with its own unique selection of Christmas gifts and ephemera.

Step inside Stocking Stuffers and you’ll find a Toyland dream come true, with everything from gumball banks and stuffed animals to "Frozen" items and stockings themselves. Home for Christmas is self-explanatory, taking its cues from a farmhouse-inspired winter experience. Santa’s Castle is full of elegant nostalgia, with Victorian-inspired gifts and an array of tree toppers. And that’s just a sampling. There’s also the Reindeer Room in the main welcome building with an all-new massive toy train set and a brand-new, kid-centric Toyland – but we’ll get to all that in a minute.

Debbie Fuchs diligently curates the interior of each shop – in fact, that’s what most of the rest of the year is dedicated to for the pair. The Christmas Ranch’s online store is up 24/7 year-round. The couple, who have seven daughters, also farm corn and beans on their property. The Fuchses were longtime owners of Family Dental Care, from which Mike just retired in March of last year.

“This year, I’m spending lots of time with Debbie, redecorating buildings and helping her order inventory,” said Mike Fuchs.

While it certainly sounds like the busiest retirement possible, it’s still more peaceful than his former job.

“I’ve always enjoyed Christmas,” said Mike Fuchs. “Back when I was 40, I was working 70, 80 hours a week. To make a long story short, I woke up in the emergency room and they were giving me last rites. I had a massive bleeding ulcer, and I was in intensive care for 13 days. I came out of that and the doctor looks at me and he goes, ‘Michael, you need to do something besides Family Dental Care.’ So I took up golf and I took up lights because I love lights and I love Christmas. And it turns out I was much better at Christmas than I was at golf.”

The reason for the season

The other real impetus for the Christmas Ranch was Frankenmuth, Michigan. Just under five hours away, this little city north of Cincinnati refers to itself as “Michigan’s Little Bavaria” and is famous for its Christmas extravaganza. Mike and Debbie would gather their seven girls and head up north to pay homage to the old-school Christmas experience just about every year.

“The city is all Christmas, all the time,” said Mike Fuchs.

Most Christmas-like of all was Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, a store dedicated to Christmas and all its wares and wonders 361 days of the year. Mike met lots of vendors and Christmas-business people, and he and Debbie started purchasing Christmas items from Bronner’s to install at their own humble Christmas Ranch.

“The last commercial buy that we made, we actually bought a full-size container from the Philippines, about eight years ago or so,” said Mike Fuchs. “It’s gotten to the point now where actually the vendors come to see us, so that’s kind of cool. It’s very cool. (Debbie) buys all the small items, the ornaments and the table tops. It’s kind of neat.”

They have amassed such a collection that I think Santa himself might be envious. There is a Santa on the property, by the way. Because of course there is. He resides in Grandma’s House, which was where Mike and Debbie lived while they were constructing their new home and building out the ranch. Kids can pose for pictures with Santa on a regal throne with huge nutcracker figurines on either side and get them printed onsite.

Lights, camera, action!

Mike showed me the nerve center where the software is all programmed for the lights and the animations and the sound. Not every building has sound, but there's sound for the whole shebang all over the property. And if you tune your radio to 87.9 on the drive in, you'll catch Christmas Ranch Radio to really set the mood.

Walking through the Christmas Ranch, even without the lights on, is a magical experience. You can feel the Christmas wonder waiting to come to life the second you step out of your car. There’s the vibrant Toyland for kids, with massive polar bear figurines you can sit on and pose for pictures. There’s a wagon ride for the family and a train ride for the kids. There’s hot chocolate and munchies and warmth and all manner of gifts inside the Reindeer Room in the welcome center.

“What’s so neat about this is I would say 98% of people who come here are very happy,” said Mike Fuchs. “They’re having a good time, they’re enjoying their families and that, to me, is what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter whether you're black or white or Catholic or Protestant or Jewish or Muslim, whatever makes you happy, we just go with the flow. I think that’s the way it ought to be. That’s why we don’t put any pressure on people. Whatever makes you happy, whatever for you is the spirit of the season, enjoy yourself. That’s what we tell people. This is about building memories. We want these little kids to remember that they went to the Christmas Ranch.”

The Christmas Ranch opens Nov. 17. General admission ranges from $32 to $42 depending on car size. Traffic gets very heavy and it is recommended to make a reservation online in advance. www.thechristmasranch.com.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How an old dude ranch in Morrow became a Christmas Ranch wonderland