Meet the couple who claim to have the best lit Christmas tree in all of Pennsylvania

York, Pa., couple Greg and Becky Wimmer believe their Christmas tree is the best lit tree in the state.

The confidence, as the couple said over Zoom, comes from Greg spending almost all his life perfecting the art.

He grew up in Lancaster in a single-parent household with his mother, Judy Wimmer, and a sister who was 10 years older. Judy was the executive housekeeper at the historic Yorktowne Hotel, which was founded in 1925, and provided a lot of unique opportunities for the young Greg.

Like the time in 1992, when he played hooky and met Hillary and President Bill Clinton with Tipper and Al Gore, on Clinton’s first stop on a 1,000-mile campaign bus trip from New York to St. Louis. But most importantly, this is where he learned to light a Christmas tree.

“She was the matriarch of tree decorating,” Greg said of Judy, who died last year. “Leading up to the Christmas season, she would use the basement of the hotel as her staging area, and would put up three 12-foot trees and five 8-foot trees around the property.”

Greg and his sister would go up to the hotel on the Saturday after Thanksgiving every year, and help their mother decorate. First, they’d take on the 12-foot lobby tree before moving on to the other rooms. They’d work late into the night, stay over, and spend Sunday decorating.

“I became so accustomed to knowing everything, she had me instruct adults by the time I was a teenager,” said Greg.

Becky, 42, who teaches first grade, appeared on Zoom wearing a festive red sweater, weeks before Christmas. (Greg, 45, who teaches social studies to high schoolers, wore a plaid shirt, and their dog Jingle barked in the background.)

“I always loved Christmas,” she said. “I love to have a Hallmark house and feel cozy and comfy. But I was very intimidated by Greg’s mom and her decorating when I became a part of the family.”

The two, both public schoolteachers, met at Elizabethtown College studying for their teaching degrees, and run an Instagram account called the Class Couple. Here, they share content about, of course, holiday decorating but also more serious stuff like voter engagement, clips from them attending a “No Kings” march, anti-ICE protests, and from the time they attended a Kamala Harris rally. Recently, the couple were invited to attend a holiday reception for content creators hosted by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“We spent quite a few years sharing teaching things, and then COVID hit. We as teachers had to go back to work before the vaccine was out, and because we didn’t get that choice, our kids didn’t either,” said Becky.

After their oldest son, Grayson, became deaf in his left ear from COVID, “our ‘why’ for sharing one line quickly changed,” she said.

They started posting content on health and safety, and sharing Grayson’s journey from hearing loss to cochlear implant to attending a school for deaf students on the campus of Washington, D.C.’s Gallaudet University.

“We had always been passionate about those types of things, but we felt the need to speak on that a little bit more, especially since it had impacted us directly in such a big way,” said Becky.

Grayson, who was born on Christmas Eve and is turning 16 this year, is one big reason behind the family’s knack for going big on Christmas celebrations. The family’s first tree goes up on Halloween.

“Only the first one. It’s usually a skinny accent tree,” Greg said.

“Halloween is like the gateway to get us to Christmas. We host Thanksgiving, but by then it’s like a Christmas wonderland,” said Becky. “We have a lot of skinny trees throughout the house.” One of those, she said, belonged to her mother, who is now in hospice with dementia.

“Then there’s the main family tree, two taller skinny trees, and three smaller three-and-a-half foot ones, and a small one in our bedroom.”

Their younger son, Urban, 13, also has one in his room.

But the Wimmers are not hoarders, Greg insists. “My goal is to always fit everything under the stairs in the basement,” he said.

The family uses plastic trees — Grayson is allergic to real ones — and has been using the same ones for more than five years. Although it’s hard to find plastic trees that are not pre-lit, they are happy to take the trouble of finding those. The couple’s go-to stores are always the local home and garden shops.

Lighting the tree is a bit of an Olympic sport for the household and it falls squarely on Greg’s able shoulders. He uses 1,700 lights (17 strands of 100 lights) and buys them months before Christmas. The claim to having the best lit tree in the state is only half in jest, bolstered by social media comments and a new title bestowed upon Greg by the internet: Christmas Lights Man.

Every year, Grayson and Urban pick and choose which ornaments to put up.

“That’s the key to Christmas,” said Greg. “How do you make it special for you? For me it’s putting 1,700 lights. But whatever your tradition is, lean into it and embrace what the season is about.”

Here are the Wimmers’ best tips so you can lay claim to having the second best lit tree(s) in all of Pennsylvania.

“Most importantly, get a tree that fits in your space, don’t overpower your room,” said Becky.

Judy used a ladder; Greg uses a stepladder. “The branches are so close together [on top] that it’s the easiest to go up and over each branch,” said Greg.

“Build depth by looping the wire around the individual branches and then work your way out from the base of the branch,” said Greg. “This way, I can control the cord more. Going around the tree … I don’t see how people do it, because I think that you’re then just dancing around.”

“My mom did this,” said Greg. “So if a strand went out on the main lobby tree, she could just take the ornaments and lights down in one section and replace the lights, instead of taking everything apart.” Greg uses 17 strands of 100 lights.

Greg uses “the older incandescent lights because I feel like LEDs just don’t give the same glow.”

Greg puts lights on the back end of the tree because “I don’t want a dark corner. It ends up giving off a really neat glow when the other lights are off in the room.”

“They can’t all be on one. Use multiple cords and be aware of your breakers’ capabilities, especially with live trees,” said Greg.

Greg said he takes about 90 minutes to light the main family tree, which is 7 feet tall.