The Acreage Landowners’ Association held its first Christmas display contest this year, honoring the Hammerle family at 12218 54th Street North.
ALA Treasurer Dixie Theiry came up with the idea for the contest after the group’s Dec. 10 meeting.
“We discussed the possibility of holding this event to see if this was even feasible this late in the game,” ALA President Bob Morgan said. “The board made the decision to give it a shot and see if there would be any participation.”
After posting the information on the ALA’s Facebook page and sharing to numerous local pages and groups, the contest began receiving entries the next day. The rules were simple. The display must reside within the boundaries of The Acreage and the entry’s address must be posted on the ALA’s post in the comments. The winner would be selected using the following criteria: storyline/theme, visual appeal, music, originality and impact.
ALA board members independently judged the entries and then tallied up the points given by each member. As such, the homes of board members were not allowed to participate in the contest. The weather was a major factor this year, having an unusually high amount of rain during the time period, making it more difficult to make the rounds.
The most points were awarded to the Hammerle family of Pamela, Wayne and their son Cole, who began their beautiful display back in October. The majority of the different displays (some were even animated) were handmade, and each light bulb painted individually using acrylic paints.
“It was really something to see and hear the stories behind many of them,” Morgan said. “The board presented a congratulatory card and a Visa gift card for their efforts. It was a small token, but the event had been planned with such short notice, and we did not want to go gang busters with prizes without consulting the community first. However, time constraints kept that from happening.”
Morgan said that the ALA hopes to expand the event in the future.
“When we posted the winner on our Facebook page, a community member suggested that more should be awarded and to see if donations from the community and local businesses would be possible,” he said. “It was a great idea, and the ALA board has agreed to begin much earlier in the year with obtaining donations and allowing more time to get the word out in 2020.”
