"This is a little bit, restoring the past:" Annual Lighting of the Whale at Milwaukee Museum

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A nearly decade long tradition brought some light to Milwaukee's Public Museum on Friday, November 28th.

The 9th annual Lighting of the Whale took place today.

4,200 lights are hung on the 137-year-old specimen of a humpback whale.

The lighting ceremony has grown from a few dozen people when it started, to 1,500 people who came to the museum today.

Museum President and CEO, Dennis Kois, says the lighting is a great way for families to spend their Black Friday.

"I think everybody learns a little bit about something about the whale, spend some time in the museum, get to spend some time making ornaments, doing other things together as a family. It's a great sort of counter-point to all the shopping and all the sort of all the consumption that's become central to our holiday these days, this is a little bit, restoring the past," said Kois.

The whale skeleton came from the east coast, where it washed up on shore -- and it's one of the oldest specimen at the museum.