It’s beginning to look like Christmas in Middletown

The large "Light Up Middletown" arch went up Friday morning, Oct. 18. The annual holiday lights display, celebrating 25 years, opens Thanksgiving night, Nov. 28, at Smith Park. (Tim Willis photo)

The large "Light Up Middletown" arch went up Friday morning, Oct. 18. The annual holiday lights display, celebrating 25 years, opens Thanksgiving night, Nov. 28, at Smith Park. (Tim Willis photo)

Halloween is still two weeks away, but it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Middletown’s Smith Park.

On Friday morning, the huge arch of the traditional “Light Up Middletown” light display went up with the help of a crane and under the guidance of the “Grandpa Gang.”

The annual holiday lights display, celebrating 25 years, opens Thanksgiving night, Nov. 28, at the park on Tytus Avenue.

The volunteer installers dubbed the “Grandpa Gang” are the backbone of the drive through light display. In recent years, they have been joined by a group of volunteers from Cleveland Cliffs who help with the large task of putting more than a million lights in trees and over a hundred display pieces on the grounds of the park.

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