What does it take to pull off the Miracle on 34th Street light display?
BALTIMORE-- The Miracle on 34th Street light display is an annual tradition in the Hampden neighborhood and signals the unofficial start of the holiday season.
Houses lining the 700 block of West 34th Street are decked out each year with stands of lights, inflatables, and light-up decorations. The big reveal, when all the lights are turned on for the season, is after Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov. 30.
WJZ set out to learn what it takes to pull off the display year after year.
Connecting neighbors with lights
Our crews were there in the days leading up to the lighting. We watched neighbors walk along the rooftops on either side of the street, using ropes and carabiners to drag the lights across, going back and forth and hooking them into place.
"We have it down to a pretty good science. It wasn't that pretty the first year I was a part of it. I'll tell you that right now," said neighbor Joshua Lamont.
Lamont has been helping string the lights across the street for eight years. He helps his neighbor Bob Hosier, who started the holiday decorating craze. Hosier had been stringing lights long before Lamont moved onto the street.
Hosier first decked out his home on 34th Street when he moved in back in 1981, but his love for Christmas and decorating has been something he's been doing since he was a teen.
The 34th Street lights took hold in the early 90s when his neighbor across the street wanted to hear the Christmas music Hosier had playing from a speaker.
"He asked me to run a speaker over there which I did," he said. "I ran lights through the speaker wire so it didn't look tacky, and the neighbors came out and asked me if I'd run the lights from house to house and the rest, they say is history."
What does it take?
"It takes getting out of bed and putting it up," said Hosier. "I mean, it's my nature every year to do it."
Beyond putting in the work to get the lights shining, it takes people who want to do it.
"You don't have to decorate when you come here. It's not part of something you sign with your mortgages," he said. "We're not going to pressure you into it."
Yet, Hosier said people, especially the younger generations, see it and want to be involved in it.
"For this next generation to come in and have the same attitude and do it, God bless them, they've done a nice job," he said.
The next generation
Joshua Lamont is part of the next generation moving to the neighborhood to continue what's become an annual tradition.
He bought his home in 2017. At the time, he had just signed a new lease for an apartment and wasn't in the market, but when he came across a home for sale on the block, he knew he had to have it.
"At the time none of the houses were up for sale," he said. "There wasn't a lot of turnover and when this one came up I was just like well this is my chance to get onto the street."
Lamont remembers coming to see the lights as a kid, which is one of the reasons he wanted to move to the block. Another reason was to share his culture.
"When I bought the house, I bought it with this very intense purpose to bring a Hannukah house to this street," he said. "Often times miracle on 34th Street, it's very associated with Christmas but it's a holiday season and so I just kind of wanted to bring my holiday to be a part of this tradition."
His home has come a long way from the first year when he had just over a week to decorate after he purchased his home.
"I remember the first year probably took me all ten days that I had, mainly because you know, Jews, we don't really decorate at all, like that's not a thing in our culture," Lamont said. "It's more so now but I'd never strung lights before I bought this house, so now I have it down to a science. I do it in pieces because it's easier, but I could probably knock the whole thing out in about six hours if I had to."
Lamont's done a lot of work since that first year. He had his home painted blue to match the crisp white and blue LED lights, added an inflatable mensch on the bench, spinning dreidels and more.
He was reminded that it was all worth it. A memory from a few years ago still sits with him. While amongst the crowd admiring the lights, Lamont heard something that still sits with him.
"There was this little girl who ran up to her mom and she went Mommy, mommy, there's a Hannukah house, it's our holiday. And just to see how happy she was, it really, that's why you put in all the hard work, that's why you coordinate, that's why you go through all these things," he said.
Stumbling into the joy
While many neighbors seek out this Winter Wonderland, some stumble into it.
Brittany Coates is moving to the neighborhood with just a week to go until the night of the lighting. She and her 12-year-old daughter are moving from Harford County to be closer to family.
She heard great things about the tight-knit Hampden community, but when she first looked at the home had no idea what she was stepping into. Coates said she loves Christmas, so when she learned about the lights, it put more of a pep in her step to get the place.
"My house is usually the one house on the block that's lit up and everyone comes and sees it and so this year it will be the whole block, so it'll be a family ordeal, everyone will come out, have our hot coco, sit on the porch and just watch everyone come through just to admire," she said.
Coates will be hosting Christmas at her house this year and said she's a big family person so she's excited to have everyone together.
How would she sum up the move to 34th Street?
"A miracle that's what I would call it, a miracle. I've been tremendously blessed to have this opportunity so I can't thank anyone but god," Coates said. "Like it's been a miracle and a blessing."
The journey to the present
Bob Hosier started the holiday light phenomenon on 34th Street and continues to have the most decked-out home on the block. He's been decorating for Christmas in this fashion for 57 years, he said. It's in his nature to do it.
"I really don't think no one's going to be as crazy as I am. I've been doing this for a long time. It's not work for me but a lot of people consider it a lot of work," he said. "It's a lot to do and there's not a lot of people the day after 4th of July who want to start getting their Christmas lights and testing them for the Fall."
For him, to see what his light display has fueled is insanity, but also humbling. Hosier didn't start out for any of this, he said, he decorated for Christmas and before he knew it the block wanted to light the homes the Saturday after Thanksgiving and bring in Santa Claus for a countdown, then major networks started covering it and thousands of people began showing up.
"It's absolutely insane what these lights have done. Very humbling but insane and I never really started doing any of this for this. I just did it for my family. I still do it for myself now that my kids are grown up. But it's pretty incredible."
This Christmas Eve a special featuring the 34th Street lights in Hampden will air on the Hallmark Channel. It's not the first time the lights have been featured on a major network. Hosier said the block has also been featured in two HGTV specials. This past weekend AARP was in town taping.
"I say it all the time, I would have never thought Christmas lights would have did all this," he said.
Conclusion
So, what does it take to pull off the Miracle on 34th Street light display?
Yes, it takes getting up and putting up the lights, as Hosier said, but it's the community that keeps the lights shining.
It's the younger generations wanting to continue the work that neighbors before them started, and it's the stands of lights that bring the neighbors together.
"It's neat that this younger generation has did this cause there's only now, three wait a minute, four of the original families that started this back then," said Hosier.
"It happens in my opinion through joy. Like everyone is here for a reason," Lamont said. "You don't continue to live here unless you want to be a part of something
