The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Christmas Light Park shines again
Bethlehem Hills succeeds in attracting more visitors
Bethlehem Hills Christmas Light Park is enjoying a successful second season, as the additional lights and displays installed for 2019 have drawn more carloads of spectators.
“We’re doing really good,” said park owner and operator Walter Miraglia, as he noted a 22 percent increase in the number of cars visiting the park so far this year, compared with the same period in 2018.
Miraglia also owns Berkshire Hills Golf Course, which he transforms every year into Bethlehem Hills Christmas Light Park. Located at 9760 Mayfield Road in Chester Township, the drivethrough Christmas light display that’s installed on the 240-acre golf course began its second year on Nov. 29 and runs through Jan. 4.
A million more lights and 20 extra displays were added for 2019, making for a total of 60 displays and 3 million computer-chipped LED lights, many of which are synchronized to Christmas music. All of the exhibits were built by Huntsburg Township craftsman Rodney Nagy, a friend of Miraglia’s.
The increased number of lights and displays has caught the attention of many visitors who made the 1.25-mile drive through the park during its inaugural season in 2018.
“I think overall the people that came last year are delightfully surprised this year on how much more we did with it,” Miraglia said. “And the first-timers are all just amazed.”
In 2018, during a season that spanned from Nov. 23 through Dec. 30 — minus Dec. 24 and 25, when the park was closed — 14,300 cars drove through the Bethlehem Hills exhibit, Miraglia said.
This year, the park opened on Nov. 29, and through Dec. 28 (minus closed days on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), over 16,000 vehicles have completed the journey through Bethlehem Hills.
Although Miraglia originally planned to keep the park open through Jan. 1, requests from customers prompted him to add three days to the schedule. So when the park wraps up its season on Jan. 4, the final vehicle count should be at least 17,400 cars, Miraglia estimated.
Two factors were cited by Miraglia in helping to bolster park visitation this year: Social media postings; and remote broadcasts and other attention generated about Bethlehem Hills by Cleveland radio station 95.5 The Fish.
“Those two things and the reviews online have been really good, and people look for that stuff nowadays,” he said.
Some of the comments posted on the park’s Facebook
page about the Christmas light display on the park included:
• “Gorgeous display and music! Spectacular attention to detail and the true meaning of Christmas!” Yvonne Moore said.
• “Beautiful lights, My son and family loved it. Will be back next year. Highly recommended,” Lauren Jablonski said.
• “Awesome Christmas lights with religious sayings and icons sprinkled throughout,” Tracy Palumbo said. “They nailed it!! Perfect holiday display.”
A portion of proceeds from the 2019 season will be donated to two nonprofit organizations: Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center and Valor Retreat, a local nonprofit engaged in building cabins in Hocking Hills in which returning combat veterans and their families can vacation, Miraglia said.
Regardless of how much money that Bethlehem Christmas Lights Park brings in, Miraglia said the greatest reward he gets out of this business is the joy it brings to others during Christmas season.
“The thrill for me are the stories we get,” he said. “Like the people from last year that came back and said, ‘We lost a loved one that came through last year, but we’re going to make this a tradition.”
To purchase tickets for a drive through Bethlehem Hills Christmas Light Park, go to bethlehemhillslights.fun.
“I think overall the people that came last year are delightfully surprised this year on how much more we did with it. And the first-timers are all just amazed.” — Walter Miraglia, owner and operator of Bethlehem Hills Christmas Light Park