HERMAN — Some of the visitors have likened the light display along Kriley Grove to a mini-Hartwood Acres. To the family members who live along the half-mile-long dead-end lane and who put up the lights and arches that carry lights over the road, the display is simply carrying on a family tradition.

Wendelin Kriley was known for his elaborate Christmas decorations, but in 2008 his descendants who live in the other houses along the lane really began to join in, dressing up their holiday displays.

They all are the children or grandchildren of Wendelin and Garnet Kriley, said their daughter, Darla Lovich, who lives across the lane from her parents' house.

She said other homes on Kriley Lane are occupied by her son, Dereke Lovich and his wife, Kelly; her brother, Doug Kriley and his wife, Tina; her son, Dominic Lovich; and her sister, Deanna Cetti, her son Jeremy and his wife, Sandy.

“My dad gifted us all with three-quarters of an acre,” said Darla Lovich.

Tina Kriley said the land was all once part of the Kriley homestead and what land Wendelin Kriley had, he divided it with whoever in his family wanted a plot.

“We put up three arches for his 60th wedding anniversary,” said Darla Lovich and ever since then, the lights and decorations along Kriley Grove have gotten more numerous.

“He was 80 and he still put up all his decorations. He'd get mad if he saw mine were dark. He got me timers,” said Darla Lovich.

“He enjoyed them so much. We added more and more. He was just like a little kid,” she said.

“Anytime he saw anybody, my dad would say, 'You have to come back to my place and see it,'” said Darla Lovich.

Unfortunately, Sandy Cetti said, Wendelin Kriley passed away in October.

The former employee of the Butler Water Co. would have turned 82 in November.

There was some debate among his descendants about whether to continue to put up Christmas decorations along the lane.

“Some of us didn't want to do it, but they kept the tradition alive,” said Sandy Cetti. “ It was touching because Pap wasn't here.”

“I think every Kriley has a lot of Christmas spirit in them, every one of them,” said Tina Kriley.

Sandy Cetti said it takes about three hours to set up the now-nine arches that span the lane.

One new display this year, said Darla Lovich, is a picture of Wendelin Kriley in a Christmas hat projected onto a 4-foot-4-foot board painted white.

She said the family's light display attracts a lot of visitors to the lane.

“It draws a lot of people,” said Darla Lovich. “We've found people parking back there.”

Sandy Cetti said family members turned the lights on Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving.

She said, “The lights turn on at 5:30 p.m. and they go off at 10 or 10:30 p.m.”

They'll remain lighted until after New Year's, she said.