2 places in Butler County to see elaborate Christmas displays
When Tyler Huth was 8 years old, his father died, throwing family traditions like decorating their house for Christmas into uncertainty.
Not to be derailed by family tragedy, Huth took it upon himself to put up the family Christmas lights, carrying on a custom of his father’s.
“I wanted to keep everything normal,” Huth said. “I snuck up on the roof at night so I wouldn’t get in trouble, and ran the lights on the gutter.”
In the decades since, Huth has continued decorating his own house, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of light bulbs. The display, which is synced to music that plays on 88.1 FM, gets bigger every year, and Huth said he is committed to moving things around so it never gets old for onlookers.
The Huth house in Buffalo Township has become known for its extravagant displays, but also for the family’s efforts to gather donations for a food bank in Freeport. The family leaves a donation box outside its house at 302 Parker Road where people can leave nonperishable food items which the Huths deliver to a Freeport food pantry.
“If we have a draw of all these people coming to see, if we can help other people through that process,” Huth said, “to me it’s that simple, and we can pass that benefit on to the food.”
A little closer to the center of Butler County is another house that has been referred to as “the Griswolds’” for years now. Andrew Yaracs, of Meridian Road, said he and his wife take days to deck the interior and exterior of their house — a process they were still in the middle of the week before Thanksgiving.
“I do our entire front yard and side and deck area,” Yaracs said. “I’m working and it’s taking me, I have already worked three straight days, it will probably take almost until Thanksgiving if the weather holds.”
Yaracs said he and his wife, Gloria Yaracs, debate each year if they should go without a light display. That feeling is usually left behind as they find new decorations to put up, and with the memory of people going out of their way to compliment the outdoor lights.
“People I don’t even know drive up and pull in my driveway and say ‘I just want to tell you we look forward to your display,‘” he said. “A lot of neighbors appreciate it. It’s very nice that people actually stop and tell me that.”
Huth said the family tradition is not expected to end anytime soon either, especially seeing that his son already has plans to try to outdo his father in the future.
“My son counts every single one. He can’t wait to see it, he likes to tell his teachers how many lights we have every year,” Huth said. “My son is saying he can't wait to have his own house so he can do his own display.”
