If you’ve ever struggled to untangle strings of holiday lights, you’ll appreciate how much work goes into setting up the quarter-million bulbs in the 1.5-mile Roper Mountain Holiday Lights show, organized by the Rotary Club of Greenville, S.C., USA. But after 15 years of putting on the popular display, which has raised $1.2 million for local charities since 1992, the Rotarians have got it down to a science.

About 20 subcommittees divide the workload of marketing, landscape lighting, setup, tear-down, and other tasks for the show, which runs from the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday to 30 December every year. The process takes more than 4,000 hours and nearly 1,000 volunteers, including friends and family members of local Rotarians.

“It’s a lot of fun,” says Greenville club member Mark Dullea. “A lot of our members will get together with other members in the club and their families and work a night at the gate, bringing a pot of chili or something like that. It’s something you look forward to doing each year.”

It’s also serious business. Dullea, who took over as chair of the lights committee in 2004, has helped increase the event’s proceeds by harnessing the talents of Rotary club members, including his sister Kara Dullea, a public relations professional, and focusing on corporate sponsorships. In 2006, a record $130,000 was raised, with 50 percent of the funds going to the foundation of the Roper Mountain Science Center, which hosts the show, and the other half distributed among charities such as the Project Hope Foundation, Greenville Rape Crisis and Child Abuse Center, and Greenville Meals on Wheels.

“The work Mark has done on this project has been absolutely amazing,” says Neil Rabon, president of the Greenville club. “He has brought us to a new level.”

This year’s show offers photos with Santa Claus and refreshments so that visitors, who pay $10 to $20 to drive through (depending on the size of the vehicle), can park and spend some time with friends and family. And Dullea says it will probably end up having about 100,000 more lights.

The club also works with the Greenville County School District to bring low-income families to the show and serve them a pizza dinner.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to spend time with their families and experience the lights in a great way,” Kara Dullea says.