It’s stunning to see them. They are staggered in the trees at various elevations. In clear or foggy weather, the lights are equally remarkable, but in spectacularly different ways. At night when they’re all lit up, it looks magical. Like it’s snowing in the woods.
What’s crazy? The Snowflake Christmas Lights even have their own designation on Google Maps© (see map below).
The History
It started with one light as kind of a memorial for their son Jackson who passed in 2007.
A friend had named a star for Jackson and they had a telescope so they could see the star at any time. Marc and Danielle Filbert wanted to further honor Jackson, and they thought hanging a lighted snowflake during the holiday season that year would be the perfect way to do that.
That was when they created a single snowflake light to shine through the holiday season.
Living close by, we at Journey Moore Often noticed the first year and remarked how beautiful it looked.
The second year it grew to 5 stars. It seems like every year since, more lights have been added. People in the community began to take notice.
After displaying several years on their own property, they approached several neighbors asking if they’d like to display some snowflake lights as well. Their across the street neighbors, Bill and Beth Skalish jumped at the idea, especially when they gave them one to start. Bill now makes his own and has close to half of the snowflake lights now displayed.
Over the years, the number of lights have grown each year to become an amazingly impressive show. Between their two properties, there are around 60 lights now and counting.
The Lights
The lights go up and are turned on around Thanksgiving. They typically run until sometime after the first of the year. People from all over drive to see them. We’ve told friends and family about them and show all our visitors whenever we can.
Interestingly enough, different directions offer different perspectives. Coming from the west on Church Hill Road, they the lights build in numbers until you’re surrounded on both sides. From the east, you round the corner and it looks like the valley ahead is filled with snowflakes. On Creek Road, they look even more distant, yet still inviting.
The way the lights follow the White Clay Creek (Middle Branch) and reflect in the water, adds another dimension altogether.
Not surprisingly, there’s a “Longwoodesque” feel as you drive through.
Even at twilight the snowflakes are visible and have an impact.
The lights themselves are handmade to look like snowflakes and powered up every holiday season, hence the name, Snowflake Christmas Lights. Each light is about 3 foot by 2 foot. They have a 3 dimensional steel tubular structure with LED bulbs on it to make them look like snowflakes falling in the woods at a small distance.
For any locals who remember, yes, they used to have lights hanging over the road itself. From personal observation, that was amazing. Unfortunately, the local electric company needed to maintain their overhead electric and part of that was cutting down trees close to the road. In total, 17 trees needed to come down. That meant around 12 stars needed to be relocated.
But it may not stop on Church Hill Road. The Filberts are looking to have some lights installed in the town square of Jackson Hole, WY as a tribute and have been working with them for a couple of years to make this happen. You can count on JMO to provide an update if/when that happens!
Practical Stuff
First of all, it’s free to see the lights. All you need to do is drive through at twilight or after dark to see the lights in their splendor.
They’re really easy to find (at night of course). As mentioned earlier, the lights are shown on Google Maps© and are located on Church Hill Road in Franklin Township, Chester County, PA.
Photo screenshot from Google Maps©
While we’re sure you won’t miss the lights, another way you’ll know you’re there is when you see the Falling Rock sign at the end of a driveway. It was named for the signs on the road that warn those driving through to watch out for Falling Rock. In case you were wondering, Marc made the sign himself!
Be careful though. Church Hill Road is not very wide and is curvy, so that means there’s no real place to park, so if you want to enjoy them longer than the drive, you’ll have to drive through several times. It’s not unusual for people to slow down considerably to taken in the lights.
Also good to know is that Creek Road is not paved. Currently it’s in pretty good shape, but it’s not maintained in the winter months. That means there could be potholes or snow, so be careful if you choose to use that route.
A couple weeks before the lights are officially turned on, they work on maintaining the lights. This is when bulbs are replaced, and electrical connections are verified as safe or replaced.