(COLORADO SPRINGS) — For Mark Ingles, a passion shines through every year around Christmas, with his entire home turning into a Christmas spectacular. Since he was a little boy, he remembers decorating his parents’ home, and even when he was stationed overseas in Korea, he kept up the holiday tradition.

“I’m a retired Air Force chaplain and so I was over there, and I decorated the outside of the dorm,” Ingles said. “The commander wondered what I was up to, but I thought it was fun.”

Colorado Springs has its very own Clark Griswold; Ingles starts decorating the day after Halloween to make sure his house is in top condition for the holiday viewers.

“I start the day after Halloween, and my intention is to always be done at Thanksgiving because I want to turn it on at Thanksgiving again, because it’s a thankful time, it’s an uplifting time,” Ingles shared. “And to be able to have them on then is always my goal.”

On the right side of the holiday light display contains religious sentiment including a nativity scene.

The display is a sight to see, with Christmas carols playing and lights twinkling, it is like a Christmas picture book came to life.

“It’s a lot of hours put into it, thousands upon thousands of lights that make up the display, figuring out where to put everything, I repeat locations, but it still changes a little bit,” said Ingles.

Viewers can spot Christmas tale characters like Rudolph, Snoopy, and King Moonracer, but on the other side of the display, it is more religious, showing baby Jesus and the nativity scene. Each year, though, Ingles surprises the community with a new theme.

“I have the minions, I have the Coke Bears that are part of that, then the whole Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cast, including the King and so it’s really been fun,” Ingles shared. “Then snowmen and this year’s theme is Candy Cane, so that’s where the red and white is emphasized here.”

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys characters were on display for all to see.

This display is Ingles’ gift to the community, but what is even greater is what he hopes people will do in return. Out front are two donation bins, one that holds nonperishable food items for Care and Share, the other takes monetary donations for Springs Rescue Mission.

“It is a season of giving and to be able to give in that special way to others that just don’t have much is really special,” said Ingles.

One little girl on Wednesday night came up with a bag full of donations for the Care and Share food bin.

Ingles first put out the cooler to support Care and Share Food Bank in 2014, that year he received 115 pounds of food, and each year he is hopeful to beat the donations of the year prior.

“This past year, I received a little over 2,500 of food that was donated, which was awesome,” shared Ingles.

The ice cooler is easy to spot out where visitors can place their non-perishable food items inside.

Now Ingles is on a mission to surpass this goal, asking the community to stop by and donate any non-perishable food items they have. There also is another donation bin for monetary donations going to Springs Rescue Mission.

“Like this last year, I got $1,100 plus in donations for the Springs Rescue Mission,” Ingles shared. So, between the food and the monetary donations, it’s been awesome, and the giving heart of people is beautiful.”

This beautiful Christmas extravaganza will be going on until Jan. 2 and is located at 4910 Nugent Drive, Colorado Springs, CO, 80922. The lights and music turn on around 5 p.m. and the music will shut off at 9:45 p.m.

While the lights out front might have caught many eyes, but for those who step foot inside of Ingles merry manor, a special treat awaits.

While the outside of Mark’s house is well decorated, the real Christmas collection can be seen on display inside.

“It takes me a lot of days to put this together, including my Christmas village,” Ingles said. “I have a huge Christmas village that takes me about two days to do and getting everything set the way I want it to be and all that.”

In every corner and all along the tree branches are little bits to his Christmas collection. A game of eye spy could go off the charts with five different trees, more than 60 nativity sets and a whole village.

Inside of his home, Mark Ingles has more than 60 nativity scenes all collected from around the world.

“It’s always kind of melancholy to take it down because it brightens up the house,” Ingles shared. “It’s so beautiful inside and it’s peaceful and makes you warm inside and so I love that, so when you go back to regular old house again, it’s just, it’s missing something.”

It was easy to discover which Christmas tree Mark’s cat Bailey enjoyed, the one covered in cat ornaments.

As for the future, there is no stopping this Colorado Springs elf who is on the mission to spread holiday cheer and the true meaning of Christmas to all who stop by.

“So for me to be able to bring a smile to people’s faces, just like the people driving by that we’ve seen and to touch their hearts and maybe lift their spirits a bit if they’re feeling down or feeling low, that makes Christmas for me,” Ingles said. “Because I’ve had an impact on people’s lives in a positive way and then I extend that with Care and Share and then the Springs Rescue mission so to be able to do that, that makes my Christmas.”