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Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
Five RM winners named in Holiday Lights Contest
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Photo by Sheri Barile
The home of John and Cindy Martin wins first place in the Rancho Murieta Association Holiday Lights Contest held Dec. 14.
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By Sheri Barile
River Valley Times Reporter
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Judging for the inaugural Rancho Murieta Association Holiday Lights Contest took place on Dec. 14 to decide which five of the 14 entered homes would win prizes. The winners were announced at the RMA Board of Directors meeting Dec. 15. All contest winners received a gift certificate from Plaza Foods.
Winning first place and a $150 gift certificate were John and Cindy Martin on Rio Circle. The second-place prize, a $125 gift certificate, was awarded to George Hannum on Via Del Cerrito. A $100 gift certificate went to the third-place winner, Erik Foster, on Verona Drive. Taking fourth place was Ken Johnson on Guadalupe, who received a $75 gift certificate. Fifth place and a $50 gift certificate went to Doug and Randee Ross on Top Spin.
It took four judges from the RMA Recreation Committee about two-and-a-half hours to decide the top five among the homes that had entered by the Dec. 9 deadline. RMA Assistant General Manager Danise Hetland accompanied the judges on their tour of the homes. “It was extremely difficult to choose among the entrees,” she said. “They were all so beautifully decorated, so it was also hard to place the top five in order.”
Most of the winners said they had entered the contest as soon as they read about it and that they had started decorating right after Thanksgiving. It took the contestants anywhere from three or four days to two weeks to complete their projects.
The first-place Martin family members do an elaborate job of decorating every year, but John Martin said he took a hiatus last year after his father passed away. He didn’t enter the contest until the last eligible day, after some prompting from neighbors. “I didn’t know for sure what I was going to do,” Martin said. “Neighbors were leaving entry forms on my door, so I entered at the last minute.”
Martin’s decorating project spans the entire 200-foot length of his wraparound front yard. It includes several musical blowups and a 22-foot lit tree that he designed and constructed himself.
Martin said he started on Dec. 6, and it took a full week to complete the project. “I decided once I was in, it was on,” he said. “I’m very competitive, so I was out there in the rain working on it. But we never thought we’d win first place.”
Weather wasn’t as much of an issue for the second-place winner, who started decorating immediately after Thanksgiving. “I have more decorations than I can handle, so the biggest problem for me is always electrical,” Hannum said. “This year I had Handy Bob come out and install eight outlets on each side of the house to give me enough amperage.”
Hannum has a total of 26 inflatable decorations, as well as animated musical items both on the ground and on the roof.
There is no area of the house or yard that third-place winner Foster wouldn’t consider decorating. It took him two weeks to complete his project this year, with the help of his son Mitchell, 8, and daughter Blair, 5. “I love to see the little kids' faces light up,” Foster said. “And I have a pretty big yard, so I have lots of ideas for the future.”
Winning fourth place was humbling but gratifying for Johnson. He said he lives in an area of Guadalupe where eight neighbors elaborately decorate each year. “I don’t know what would have happened if all of the others had entered,” he said. “But I think my place looks pretty good for not getting up there and crawling on the tile roof.”
There’s a chance that electrical services will be needed next year by fifth-place winner, Ross. Most of his decorations are homemade, but after adding so much more to his project this year, he said he encountered some electrical challenges. “We can’t turn our computer on at night now,” he said. “If we do, we throw a circuit breaker.”
Hetland said the suggestion and funding for the Holiday Lights contest and prizes came out of the RMA Recreation Committee, and that they hope to continue the event in coming seasons.
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