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Ode To Overly's Country Christmas

GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- A local tradition began nearly 60 years ago with just a few strands of lights. Now, there are millions and thousands of visitors. "Overly's Country Christmas" celebration runs through New Year's Day.

Ode To Overly's

'Tis the month before Christmas and all through the park,
The children sit silently, waiting for dark.
They wait for the glow that will chase off the night,
Bathing these hills in a lustrous light.

In the distance! You see it? The Irwin Hotel!
And who is that coachman who rides through the dell?
Did you see Santa's workshop? And Santa himself?
I'd have to agree he's a jolly old elf.

Did you ride on the buggy that circles the park,
Ringing and dinging its bells in the dark -
As it climbs up the hill, and rolls round the bend,
Through a magical world where the lights never end?

I'm wondering now as we bask in the glow:
Do you know who started this, long long ago?
As you stare at the fire - its bright orange glory -
Let your mind wander. I'll tell the story.

More than one million lights. And the whole thing began
Just a few miles away, at the home of one man.
His name: Harry Overly. Strung up some lights,
Then he added some more on the following nights.

Then some more. And some more, 'til his house was so bright,
That cars were lined up in the dark of the night.
From Pittsburgh and Greensburg and Scottdale they came.
Each year it grew bigger, while spreading his fame.

But it's not fame he wanted. He hoped to bring joy
Through the bright lights of Christmas, for each girl and boy.
Though he's no longer with us, his spirit lives still,
In the glow of the fire and the lights on the hill.

And he's telling us still, in the blink of each light:
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

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