The HCRC 2018 Holiday Lights Contest Is Open for Entries

Holiday lights are beginning to appear in the area, providing that familiar warm glow of the season.  Highland County Recreation Commission Director, Catie King, has more on a contest for residential homes that might give people incentive to add to the ambience.

“The Highland County Recreation Commission is excited to bring another year of the Holiday Lights Contest, with anyone in the Highland County area able to participate,” says Ms. King.  “You dress up your house in holiday lights and holiday décor and submit your house in with the forms that we have located at local businesses or on our website.  You can either mail them in to our P.O. Box or email them to our Recreation email.  They have to be submitted by Saturday, December 15^th, and the contest judging will be held on two separate days this year.  It will be held on December 17^th and 18^th, so have your lights on after dark, and the judges will be drivin’ around and judging each one of the houses throughout those two evenings.

“Some of the local businesses that have our forms are the Library, High’s Restaurant, Hull’s Hideaway, the Exxon Station, the Rockingham Coop, and the Highland County Weight Room.  They’re also located at The Blue Grass Mercantile, Mountain Oasis down in McDowell, and Stonewall Grocery.”

The Curly Maple in Monterey will also have the forms.  As for the winnings, the first-place prize is a family pool pass to the HCRC pool for 2019 or $100.  Second-place earns a family pool punch pass for 15 visits or $50, and third place earns a family pool punch pass for 10 visits or $25.  There is also a “Griswold Award” and $25 given for the house with the most lights.  Taking in all those lights isn’t just for the judges.  Ms. King says, “With all of your entries, I will be creating a driving tour for the community to be able to enjoy your hard work and this beautiful Holiday Lights Display.  This is a free event and something that is just for the community to be able to get in to the season and enjoy each other.  We will announce the winners on December 19^th, the day after judging is over, and the driving tour will be posted and available through our Facebook page and on our website.  Our website where you can find both the form and the driving tour is www.highlandcountyrecreation.org, and you can mail in the form to P.O. Box 428 or email it to catiek@highlandcountyrecreation.org, and any other questions that you have, you can always call us at 468-2978.”

Ms. King is looking forward to seeing this year’s results.  She concludes, “So this only my second year getting to be a judge for this Holiday Lights Contest.  Last year was really fun!  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see how much the community gets involved in this and how many people really have a passion for decorating for the holidays, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to drive around with the other two judges, talking about the joy of why we celebrate the season and how we bring the community together.  I did want to say last year that we had twenty-seven participants, so I’m excited to see if we can break that and get even more participation this year.”

For more information, people can reach Catie King at catiek@highlandcountyrecreation.org.