TOWN ‘N’ COUNTRY — For nearly three decades, millions of lights at a Waters Avenue fast-food restaurant have signaled the start of the holiday season. This year, they will stay dark.
James Dittman, owner-operator of the Chick-fil-A at 6299 W. Waters Ave., announced on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages that its holiday light display will not return this year and is retired for the foreseeable future.
In a lengthy, emotional post, Dittman wrote that with his sons now living in other states and his father facing health challenges, the family is “no longer able to continue the display.”
“My family and I have spent countless hours together bringing the display to life each year, often beginning preparations as early as August,” Dittman wrote. “We know the lights have become a special part of the holidays for many families in our community, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has made visiting them part of their own traditions over the years.”
Dittman, his sons and restaurant employees built the display themselves each year. It typically went up shortly after Thanksgiving and ran into January, with nightly light shows, photos with Santa and holiday-themed nights.
It began modestly. When Dittman opened the restaurant in 1997, it was the first freestanding Chick-fil-A in Tampa, and he decided to channel his inner Clark W. Griswold.
Putting up Christmas lights, he told the Carrollwood Beacon in 2024, “was something my dad and I used to do at our house growing up. So, I called him and said I really wanted to put lights up at the restaurant, especially since we were the very first Chick-fil-A in Tampa that was outside a mall.”
Dittman and his father expanded the display each year, and his sons pitched in as they got older.
It became a regional draw, with families driving past other Chick-fil-A locations to eat nuggets and waffle fries while watching the shows. The crowds helped the neighbors, too. Dittman told the Beacon in 2024 that the manager of the Lowe’s in the same Waters Crossing shopping plaza said the store led the chain in Christmas tree sales every year.
“We don’t necessarily get the lights there, but we always need extension cords and other plugs from there,” Dittman said with a laugh.
News of the display’s retirement spread quickly. Residents from as far as Northdale, Lutz and Land O’ Lakes took to social media with offers to help, and some local light-installation companies volunteered to step in.
Dittman wrote in a separate post that the family was “overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the incredible offers to volunteer,” but said the display is too personal and intricate to turn over to volunteers.
He asked for prayers and well-wishes for his father.
“Right now, the most supportive thing our community can do is allow our family the time and space to focus on one another and my dad’s health,” he wrote.
The restaurant will remain open through the holiday season, with fewer decorations outside.
“While our restaurant may not shine quite as bright on the outside this year, the warmth inside remains the same,” Dittman wrote. “We can’t wait to celebrate the holidays with you, share our seasonal menu favorites, and continue creating special moments together.”