Best displays sought for Holiday of Lights

It's part of the yearly holiday routine. People will be spending hours of their free time, often working harder than they do during the work week, hanging lights, signs and decorations to make their house, business or yard stand out as the most festive. This year -- as it has for more than 15 years -- the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce is going out to reward those laborious efforts.

The chamber's Community Beautification and Enhancement Committee is seeking nominations for the annual Holiday of Lights competition.

"This is for the people in the community who are trying to beautify their homes and businesses," said committee chairman Dan Muser.

"Their efforts help to get the community into the holiday spirit, and it shows a sense of community pride and a desire to make the community a better place to live."

The committee will send its judges into the streets on Dec. 14, in search of the best residential and business lighting displays throughout the city. The panel will select winners -- two residential and one business or other non-residential -- from each of seven geographic sections of Cape Girardeau.

Judge and committee member Kathy Bertrand said that bigger isn't necessarily better in this contest. She said she'll be looking for displays with originality that are visually appealing and tastefully done.

The winning displays will be photographed and published in the Southeast Missourian, and will also be marked with a chamber Holiday of Lights sign in the yard. The chamber will then compile a map of all the winners in town so that anyone can take a self-guided tour of the city's finest lighting displays. Those maps will be available at the chamber office and the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Taking nominations

To nominate your own, or someone else's display, you can call the chamber office or log onto the chamber's Web site. You can also deliver your nominations to Fantastics, Holiday Happenings, The Bank of Missouri, The Bank of America, Capaha Bank, Foeste Nursery, Lowes, Layton Law Firm, Elias Hardware, Sunny Hill Nursery, the Arena Building, Cape Girardeau City Hall, Osage Community Center or Plants Plus.

Nominees must have their displays on for the full two hours between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Dec. 14, as the judges make their rounds.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137