- The Boro
Every Christmas The Belvin Family Gets Lit for a Good Cause
POCONO TOWNSHIP– It’s official: Clark Griswold has nothing on the Belvin family of Pocono Township. Last year, their holiday light display won the “Best in State”, “Top 10 in the World”, and the coveted “Clark Griswold Award (Likely Seen from Space)” from “Tacky Light Tour”.
Not to rest on their Christmas Laurels, Jerrod Belvin says they added another 27,040 lights this year. That makes it 180,090 colorful lights choreographed to holiday musical favorites (listen on 89.9 FM), featuring a 186-foot Arch with 800 RGB Pixels, and a 27 foot tree emblazoned with 13,000 lights.
Kids from 1 to 100 will be dazzled by the eight 7-foot dancing trees, 7-foot candy canes, 20 Christmas Tree sculptures, 4 leaping arches with 1,600 lights, the seven 14-foot architectural lights with 12,000 lights, and so much more. The Griswolds in the group will be instinctively rubbing their backs admiring the work it took – over a month – to install the display. Over a mile of extension cords keep the display burning bright, giving the entire neighborhood a distinctive glow from December 1 through the first day of the new year when it shuts down.
Belvin got his start helping his Dad put up the annual family display. He became fascinated with the art and science of holiday lights. So much so that, when he was ten, for Christmas he said he wanted Christmas lights.
Over the decades, the volume and variety of his collection grew, as he eagerly incorporated new technology into the display. About eight years ago, he decided to leverage the popularity of his free light display for a good cause. He had just lost his Mom to ALS and selected that as his first charity. They raised almost $3,000 in donations that year.
Since then, with the display growing, in size and fame, they have raised $17,835 for ALS, Boys & Girls Club, Big Brother Big Sister, The United Way, & The American Red Cross.
This year they will again use the free show to collect donations to fight hunger in Monroe County. 100% of funds raised go to United Way of Monroe County for their Access to Healthy Food Initiative, which aims to end hunger in Monroe County.
In usual years the family has free hot chocolate, visits with Santa, and cookies for those who want to stop and enjoy the spectacle. Unfortunately, those amenities have fallen victim to COVID. Belvin fears this will mean fewer donations, so this year donations can be made by texting GIVE to 33339. You can still leave a donation when you visit.
This free light show, located at 464 Cherry Lane Rd, East Stroudsburg (Pocono Township) can be seen nightly from Dec 1 through January 1, Sunday through Thursday 5:00pm to 9:30pm; Friday & Saturday for the Grand Experience from 5:00pm to 10:00pm.
The entire show runs about 45 minutes. You can park & watch, get out of the car and socially distance, or just drive by for a taste of the magic. Either way - please consider a donation or making one by texting GIVE to 33339.
Oh, and go to tackylighttour.com to vote for them to win the 2020 Clark Griswold Award again, goodness knows they earned it!
