This year’s volunteer of the year is being presented to Brad and Melanie Coleman. Although both Colemans have eschewed the limelight and tried to fly under the radar, the city felt it was necessary to acknowledge their amazing contributions to the community.  “They’ll probably never talk to us again,” Mayor Joan Hawkins said while presenting the couple with a plaque recognizing their service, “but we felt it had to be done.”

Brad and Melanie are being recognized for being the masterminds behind Malad’s newest Christmas adventure, the light show at the city park. Brad’s background in IT and love for building things, coupled with Melanie’s creativity led this to be a perfect project for the two of them. Their curiosity was sparked after seeing a similar light show that they thoroughly enjoyed. Nearly a year later after countless hours put into this project, that spark evolved into an incredible light show featuring the most loved Christmas songs paired to more than a thousand lights, a first of its kind in Malad. 

This undertaking was no small feat. As they selected their music Melanie began sequencing the light’s actions for each song, and Brad started building the sets. They took many opportunities to run a variety of different light shows to be sure that they could pull off such a large scale presentation. This included putting up a light display in the Co-op windows as a trial run for the Matrixes and running a Halloween light show at their home for all trick or treaters to enjoy. This helped to make sure they could get all of the pieces working together at the same time. 

All of that tireless work paid off, as the wildly popular Christmas show drew hundreds of spectators and was enjoyed by all. Many folks even found themselves making multiple visits to see the bright lights that brought so much holiday cheer. 

Brad and Melanie plan to make this a yearly tradition for the people of Malad to enjoy. They have already started making updates to their props and choosing new songs for next years show. Brad and Melanie are also very involved in volunteering their time within the community. Brad is an appointed member of the Malad City Planning and Zoning Board, and is a member of the 6th Ward Bishopric. Melanie is the President of the Malad Elementary PTO and decorates the Coop windows alongside multiple other volunteers.

Despite, or perhaps because of, their humility, the award is very well-deserved!