The once regionally famous Shrewsbury Lights live on at The Residence at Fitz Farm. Steve Bromley, whose mother Bonnie Bromley is an Independent Living resident at Fitz Farm, shared a dozen light displays such as Santa’s Workshop and a holiday train to the senior living community. Below, a photo of the Bromley home in Shrewsbury, with the original light set up is included.
Senior Living Community Revives Piece of York History, Shares Holiday Tradition
YORK, Pa. — The once regionally famous Shrewsbury Lights holiday display in a small way shines on this year at The Residence at Fitz Farm senior living community.
Steve and Donna Bromley donated a dozen pieces of the once massive light display that annually brought large crowds of visitors past at their home on Woodlake Court in Shrewsbury each December. In part, the display honors Steve’s mother, Bonnie Bromley, an Independent Living resident at Fitz Farm.
“Our residents and our team are so grateful to have a part of York history on display for all to enjoy,” said Brandi Rendler, Executive Operations Officer at The Residence at Fitz Farm. “Fitz Farm is a place to carry on family traditions. Steve was kind enough to share the lights that were a part of his family for so long, and he even was part of putting them up. That impressed me. I really like Santa’s workshop.”
A bright red train with an engine, flatcar and caboose is heading to Santa’s Train Depot in the display situated outside the senior living community that opened this year on the site of the former Fitz Family Farm. Next to that is Santa’s Workshop, with illuminated elves working to pack a bag of toys for the big guy’s annual journey.
While only a small fraction of what once included nearly 42,000 lights, 30 extension cords and as many as 100 hours of set-up time at the Bromley home, The Residence at Fitz Farm lights capture the spirit of the season. They also connect people to a special memory of the Shrewsbury Lights that brought smiles to so many faces over the years.
“My mom lives there,” Steve Bromley said. “A woman who used to live behind me now lives at The Residence at Fitz Farm. I’m giving them a little something.”
The Shrewsbury Lights display annually lit up the cul-de-sac at Steve and Donna Bromley’s home for decades — since Steve was a teenager until the final display in 2015. Thousands of visitors annually drove past or walked up to the home from Thanksgiving into the new year.
Those tuning their car radios to 88.3 FM could watch the lights synchronized to Christmas music. The Shrewsbury Lights had a Facebook page and a presence on YouTube. A song was written about the lights, and a national competition ranked the York display in its Top-20.
The lights were so well known that when the Bromleys didn’t assemble the display in 2016, it merited a feature story in The Daily Record, one of York’s newspapers, to explain to readers what happened.
“It was time to spend time with the family,” explained Steve Bromley, 61. “You can’t leave the house with that many lights on.”
Things other people took for granted, such as simply going out to dinner or turning on a light in the garage at night weren’t options for the family when the lights were on outside.
“We had about 5,000 visitors at the end,” Steve Bromley said. “My display was a static display and animated lights. I had a static display, as well as the music. We were getting a lot of attention at our house. I’m getting older. I wanted to spend time with my family. It took a lot of time to set up. We had 42,000 lights at the most. The last year it was 38,000 lights.”
Steve sold many pieces of the original display but keeps a few special items for his family’s enjoyment. Donating part of the display to The Residence at Fitz Farm, where his mother and her friends can enjoy it, made sense.
“I asked my mom if it’d be OK, and she thought it was a great idea,” Steve Bromley said of his family’s role in the Fitz Farm display. “It’s a little something.”
Bonnie Bromley enjoys sharing the lights with her fellow residents. “The lights make me feel happy,” she said. “It makes it feel more like Christmas. I am very proud of my son and family and that he has donated the lights to us here at Fitz Farm so that we may continue a family tradition that meant so much to so many people.”
The Bromley family cherishes those memories of the Shrewsbury Lights and all of those who once visited their home. They also appreciate that the legacy lives on in some small way at The Residence at Fitz Farm.
“This is something we will put up in November in future years,” Rendler said. “It’s so special to so many people, especially Bonnie, who is so proud of her son. We’ll also have more pieces on display next year. We only were able to put up part of the display Steve gave us this year.”
For more information, contact Brandi Rendler, Executive Operations Officer, The Residence at Fitz Farm, at brendler@integracare.com or 717.356.2870.