Mystic — The Shaffer family figured that, not only do we need a little Christmas cheer this year, but we also need a good dose of hope for the future — and many also need food to get through these hard times.

So, with a flick of a few switches and a Zoom meeting and Facebook Live event Friday evening, attended by dozens of family members and friends across the country, the Shaffers brought all those themes together in a dazzling display of blinking lights set to peppy Christmas music at their 76 Judson Ave. home.

“Nice!” “Awesome!” “That was fantastic!” “Wow,” came the response from the online viewers, some of whom sported Santa hats, lighted necklaces and festive shirts and sweaters. “I love the new additions.”

Normally, the Shaffer family hosts a light up barbeque and asks the 50 to 100 attendees to bring a new toy to donate to the Salvation Army, the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center or Groton Social Services.

An in-person party was out of the question this year, Diane Shaffer said, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But she and her husband, Mark, grown sons Robert and Jonathan and a host of extended family and friends did not want the street or the spirit of their annual effort to go dark.

This year’s theme, “Hope,” flashed in white lights from the house roof Friday night. On the lawn below, multiple lighted trees danced with blinking lights set to music on the family’s own low-power radio station, 93.1 FM — strong enough only to reach about 150 feet from the house, Diane Shaffer said.

A traditional Nativity scene, Snoopy’s doghouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Island of Misfit Toys and flashing candy canes completed the scene. One snowman has a facemask.

“Every year we pick a message,” Diane Shaffer said. “This year’s message is hope, for a lot of reasons. There’s so much hope for the end to this craziness, and a safe vaccine, and hope for a peaceful transition of power in our country. And hope for people who can’t put enough food on the table.”

As a nurse supervisor for the Visiting Nurses Association of Southeastern Connecticut, she knows the impact the coronavirus has had on the region.

Instead of toy donations, the family is asking that visitors coming to admire the display donate nonperishable food items to the collection bin that will be placed at the end of the driveway once this weekend’s heavy rain and wind end. The food will be donated to the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center, the St. Vincent de Paul Place soup kitchen in Norwich, Groton Social Services and other local food banks.

The Shaffers also are asking anyone wishing to make cash donations to do so directly to the program of their choice. Mark Shaffer said even before the lights were turned on Friday, some people already had donated to the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center.

The Judson Avenue neighborhood has embraced the Shaffer’s Christmas display each year, and to ensure relations stay positive, the light display will run from 5 to 9 p.m. each day.

“To be kind to our neighbors, they go off at 9 p.m.,” Diane Shaffer said. “We have great neighbors who embrace this.”

The Shaffers started decorating their yard for Christmas 22 years ago, when Bobby and Jonathan were young boys. Mark Shaffer made two 6-foot-tall snowmen decorations. The family added lights to the porch. When they moved two years later to their current home, they invited friends to help decorate. One friend suggested having a barbecue with a fire to roast hot dogs. The parties kept growing, and the family started asking for donations of toys for charities. They annually have collected and donated 75 to 100 toys, Diane Shaffer said.

They add or change features each year. Five years ago, Diane bought the low-power FM broadcast station for Mark as a Christmas gift. They broadcast a loop of about 10 to 12 Christmas songs, paying for the licensing rights through the broadcast company.

Mark and Diane Shaffer's two sons now are grown, but the holiday enthusiasm hasn’t waned. Bobby, 28, lives in Groton with his fiancée, Katrina, and Jonathan, 26, lives with his parents in Mystic. Both still help set up the lights each year.

“It started with just five of us and grew over the years to friends and family,” Diane Shaffer said. “It’s probably one of the things that I enjoy the most at the holidays.”

c.bessette@theday.com