What started out as one family’s gesture in spreading Christmas cheer has grown into a holiday display that draws visitors from across the region as well as serves as a mission to help those in need.TMT Farms will open its annual Christmas lights display friday night at 6 p.m. at 16658 Old River Road North. While there is no admission charge, visitors are encouraged to bring donations of nonperishable food, children’s toys or cash, all of which will be distributed to needy families in the area.Roy and Deborah Thompson, along with their son Tyler Thompson, daughter Jennifer McCranie and their families, started out several years ago, decorating their family property on Old River Road North for Christmas. “It started out as a light thing, for Christmas spirit, but it has turned into a ministry for us,” said Roy Thompson, a Bulloch County commissioner and owner of Statesboro Floor Covering.As the years went by, the annual event shifted from just a cool place to drive through during the holidays to a bustling, busy month-long collection effort that helps provide blessings to needy families in the Bulloch County area.The Christmas display features thousands and thousands of lights, sculptures, and inflatables scattered among antique farm equipment, an old moonshine still, and replicas (storefronts) of some of Bulloch County’s historical businesses such as Snooky’s restaurant and a new addition, Henry’s Ladies’ Shop.The dirt driveways that meander through the woods leading to the homes of the Thompson and McCranie families also leads visitors past a replica of an old Western town, complete with a chapel, stable, mercantile and more.