WASCO, Ore. — The city of Wasco sits about a mile off the main highway that bisects Sherman County north to south, an oasis of 400 people and a handful of businesses surrounded for miles by wheat fields and windmills.
It’s a quiet little town, hidden from casual view by that rolling wheatland and high desert. On a chilly December afternoon, the only inhabitants to be seen out of doors are a black cat surveying the tall grass and an elderly couple crossing main street from the tavern that serves as a town directional marker.
Except for the big annual Memorial Day celebration that distinguishes them from communities in its four neighboring counties, the residents of Wasco are pretty quiet about their goings-on.
But as winter weather begins to set in each year, Wasco takes on a glow on the night horizon. The source of this evening gleam is the Benedict house — known to locals simply as “the house on the hill” — ablaze with more than a half-million decorative Christmas lights.
Over the past eight years, the spectacular display has become a fixture that Wasco residents look forward to each holiday season. But this year a dark hill nearly took the place of the familiar glow that can be seen throughout the town.
As a result of recent price increases for electricity and oil, which heats the five-story Victorian house, Bill and Linda Benedict almost decided not to put on the massive show this year. In 2006, electricity to light the display from Thanksgiving through Christmas cost $600, not to mention the upfront costs of such a big undertaking.
Linda was at a community event earlier in the fall and had mentioned the family might be forced to end the display.
“A couple of little old ladies said, ‘You can’t do that,’ ” Benedict recalled, sitting at a kitchen table with a nearly life-size Santa standing nearby and an evergreen arrangement on the table.
The house on the hill, also known as the Christmas house at this time of year, had gone from an impressive private display to a public institution over the past eight years, and the residents of Wasco weren’t prepared to let it go dark.
“People just came to expect that we’re going to see these lights on the house,” said Cassie Welk-Strege, Wasco’s city clerk.
So, in true community fashion, the city of Wasco launched a campaign to raise money for this year’s display.
“The lighting of ‘the house on the hill’ brings such enjoyment to everyone in the community, as well as to those who travel here during the holiday season especially to view them,” wrote Wasco’s mayor, Karen Kellogg, in the October city newsletter.
A collection jar marked “Donation for Holiday Lights,” appeared on the counter at Wasco City Hall, and residents were encouraged to send in an extra check with their water and sewer bills.
The request generated more than $925 in donations, Welk-Strege said.
So, once again this year, icicle lights drip from every eve on the grand old Victorian house, colored strings festoon the trees and shrubbery, and a glowing Santa welcomes passersby.
While the way the lights are displayed varies from year to year, the over-the-top tradition is a constant, thanks to the Benedicts’ oldest son, Howard, who started the tradition when the family lived in Willard, Wash. He took a week every year to put up the ambitious home display.
“He just wanted to do it, mostly for the older people and shut-ins,” Linda Benedict explained, “but it was for everybody to enjoy.”
Almost nine years ago, at the suggestion of a friend from Moro, the Benedicts bought the big house in Wasco, a decaying relic of a grander era. During its history, the old house had been used as a community hospital, and also for public dances that took place in the third-floor ballroom.
When they bought the house, a hole gaped in the kitchen ceiling from an old plumbing leak, the wood of the second-floor balcony was rotting away, and the house was in a generally crumbling condition.
“It was a wreck,” Linda Benedict said., “but this was my dream house, no matter what condition it was in. It had always been my dream to have a home like this.”
The Benedicts brought not only their dreams, but their holiday tradition.
“It’s my favorite time of the year,” said Linda. “When my kids were little I always decorated. Christmas is for kids.”
That first year, the Benedicts were neck-deep in renovation work, along with their son, who works in construction. Bill and Linda hadn’t planned to put on a lighting display, but Howard had a different plan that he acted on while his parents were away from the house. “I came home and the house was all lit up,” Linda said. “I cried, I was so happy. I couldn’t believe it.”
Linda was thankful the town pulled together to fund the light display and invited all donors into her home for a series of open houses, just to say thanks.
“I didn’t think there was that much interest,” she said. “It proved an awful lot of people have enjoyed these lights.”
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