The Sun’s story on Mike Rich and his Christmas light and music show was the sixth most read Cherry Hill Sun story of 2018.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a countdown of the top 10 most read stories on www.cherryhillsun.com in 2018. This story was the sixth most read.
The Sun has done numerous stories on holiday light displays in the past. However, few stories garnered the attention that Mike Rich’s story received earlier this month.
Earlier in December, The Sun’s Mike Monostra paid Rich a visit at his home, located at 127 Pearl Croft Road in Cherry Hill, to check out Rich’s light and music display and find out what has made it so popular in the local community. Rich’s story would also end up being popular as it is the sixth most read Cherry Hill Sun story of 2018.
Rich explained his light display is fairly new. Rich first started the display in 2017 shortly after his family moved to Cherry Hill. Rich and his family had previous been captivated by other synchronized light and music displays and he decided he wanted to do one of his own.
“A couple years ago, I took the kids to a house that had a Facebook page,” Rich said during his interview in December. “It was much bigger than my display. The kids really loved it and the people were handing out candy canes and hot chocolate and stuff.”
Rich spends many hours each year planning out the display and synchronizing the lights to music. His basement acts as his workshop, as his computer is hooked up to the lights and runs the display continuously each night during the holidays season. The display turns on around dusk and continues until 9 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. on weekends.
Rich never imagined his display would become as popular as it did. He was shocked in 2017 when he saw the number of people driving by his house to look at the lights.
“Last year, there were retirement home buses stopping at the house,” Rich said. “There was a tour bus that stopped at the house. The neighbors have been pretty cool about it. I’ve been respectful and turn them off at a reasonable hour.”
Rich plans to continue putting up his light display for years to come and has ideas for how to continue growing his setup in the future.
“Next year, I have a plan to light up the tree in our yard, add a singing Santa Claus or Christmas tree, and probably do a mega tree,” Rich said.
To read the full story, visit https://cherryhillsun.com/residents-christmas-light-show-becoming-a-must-see-holiday-attraction-in-cherry-hill-3cf96f140492
