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Illuminated pickup trucks blaze a dazzling path
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – A couple of young men are spreading holiday cheer in a unique way.
Friends Sterling Spees and Chandler Parsons each have pickup trucks, and they’ve placed colorful lights on just about every square inch of their trucks. The lights are powered by the trucks’ cigarette lighter outlet, so when they drive them around town, they look like a Christmas tree on wheels.
The trucks have even become a tourist attraction. In fact, while Spees and Parsons were showing the trucks to The Union on Dec. 20, multiple families stopped to take photos of the vehicles in their illuminated glory.
Parsons said he got the idea to decorate his truck like this from a friend who did the same thing to his Chevrolet Impala.
“He did just the hood and the trunk, and I was, ‘I’d like to do that, but do the whole truck,’” Parsons said.
Parsons said the first set of lights he got required too much electricity that the battery couldn’t power them, so he switched to LED lights and the problem was solved. Spees said LED lights require very little power, so they’re not a strain on the battery.
Spees is a 2024 graduate of Fairfield High School, and is now a freshman at Indian Hills Community College where he’s studying to be an automotive technician. Parsons lives in the town of Lebanon in Van Buren County where he’s homeschooled, and attends the Cardinal Area Welding Academy, which is also through Indian Hills.
Parsons said members of the public will come up to them, during the day when the lights are off, to ask if the lights really work.
“A lot of people think we stuck them on there for decoration,” Spees added. “Everybody likes it. It’s really fun.”
Parsons’ truck is a 1991 Ford F-250, and Spees’ truck is a 1978 Ford F-150. They said the trucks drive really well, and they take them out of town all the time. Spees said he enjoys showing off the truck to his classmates in Ottumwa.
“They all like it and say it’s awesome,” Spees said. “A couple of them have talked about doing it, too. The instructors loved it, too, and they all took pictures.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
