A view of the Christmas lights display at 2141 McKinley Avenue in Columbus on Tuesday.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Who has some of the best outdoor holiday decorations in Bartholomew County? We’ll find out in just a few days.
Voting in The Republic’s online Holiday Decoration contest will conclude at 5 p.m. this afternoon. You can choose your favorite entry at IndianaContests.com/RepublicDecorating.
Local residents have been asked to choose between eight exterior residential decorations and lighting displays. They are located at:
- 2252 Sumpter Trail, Columbus
- 3531 Briar Ridge Way, Columbus
- 9221 E. County Road 475S, Elizabethtown
- 1010 Shelby St., Edinburgh
- 2746 Streamside Dr., Columbus
- 2141 McKinley Ave., Columbus
- 6096 Conestoga Trail, Columbus
- 573 E. Elmina Drive, Columbus
While families are welcome to drive by the homes and see the displays firsthand, entries are being judged by photographs that have been posted online. Those submitting their house as an entry were given the option to include their address on the voting page.
The occupants of the residence that receives the most votes will receive $150. The home that comes in second will win $100, while the third place finisher will receive $50.
The judging of exterior holiday lights has proven to be subjective in the past, which has resulted in some very close votes. While some are impressed with the sheer volume of illuminated holiday figures and lights placed in a yard, others look for the aesthetic quality as if judging a work of art.
Those entering the contest have been encouraged to decorate their home however they wished. But those casting votes are being asked to limit their choices based on what is visible in the online photograph.
Although The Republic will not be published on Christmas Day, the winner will be announced Saturday at TheRepublic.com and IndianaContests.com/RepublicDecorating.
While there will always be a Scrooge here and there who will say “bah, humbug” to exterior lighting, others – such as retired Columbus Area Visitors Center executive director Lynn Lucas – feel quite differently.
“They are delightful,” Lucas said in an earlier interview. “Outdoor decorations that people share with their neighbors take many of us back to our childhoods. They are really important to the community and area.”
In northeast Bartholomew County, Main Street of Hope, Inc. has sponsored a similar contest for several years.
But instead of money, the winner receives temporary custody of a traveling “Leg Lamp” in fishnet stockings, like the one featured in the 1983 film “A Christmas Story.”
Although they have to give the lamp back, the family will have their name permanently placed on a commemorative plaque.
