Community Corner
Police Officer Flashes Lights For A Good Cause
A local police officer and Christmas aficionado, Milt Warrell is hoping visitors will flock to his impressive holiday light display to help raise funds for a good cause.
What has tens of thousands blinking, flashy parts and aims to help attract donations in Levittown?
The answer: an impressive light display at a home at 257 Elderberry Drive in Levittown.
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"We do this for simply the joy of the holiday season, but also as a fundraiser," homeowner Milt Warrell said. "I became involved with this fund because I am a police officer in Bucks County."
The Upper Southampton police officer is hoping visitors will flock to his impressive holiday light display, which boasts more than 80,000 lights.
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"We ask for donations for the Bucks County Heroes Scholarship Fund, which goes to benefit children of police and firefighters that are killed in the line of duty," Warrell explained. "Last year, we raised $5,000 for the fund. This fund is pretty special to me and it's something that, God forbid, could benefit my children."
Warrell said his family of four helped to put up the display. The lights are computer-controlled to blink and dance to the music.
"This year, I have 192 channels of control. The display is fairly clean and classy with basic red, green and white lights. I can pick any song I want to use. I just drop an MP3 file into the program and then sequence the lights to move to that song. This year, I am running about 14 songs," Warrell said. "The songs can be heard over 106.7 FM while you sit in your car and watch the lights."
The long-standing tradition for the Levittown family has grown over the years.
"This is the third year with the computer-controlled system, but we have been putting up lights for Christmas since we moved in 1999," Warrell said.
This season's first lighting took place on Nov. 26.
"So far, we have had an fantastic turn out and are on track to match last year (donations)," Warrell said.
But, the lights won't last forever so take a visit for a good cause.
"(It) starts daily at 5:30 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m. and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday," Warrell said. "I think this year we will run it until Jan. 6 or 7, 2012."
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