Santa Maria recently announced the winners of its 24th annual Lights, Sights, and Holiday Nights Holiday Decoration Contest, just in time for families to tour the city and see all of the whimsical light and holiday displays.
“Pandemic or not, the Christmas spirit is alive here in Santa Maria, and it’s flourishing,” said Dennis Smitherman, the recreation services manager for the city.
Santa Maria residents could decorate their homes to win one of five awards: 2020 Best Decorated Rookie Residence, Country Christmas, Home Spun Holiday, California Dreamin’ and Holiday Hall of Fame.
The nominations for the coveted awards were spread fairly evenly across all areas of the city, Smitherman said.
Two commissioners from the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department spent more than four hours judging the nominated displays, according to Smitherman, and a map of the winners is available on the department’s social media pages.
Elizabeth Houser won the 2020 Best Decorated Rookie Residence Award, and the Price family won the Country Christmas category. Alex and Gloria Nanalis took home the Home Spun Holiday Award, and Christian Cortez snatched the victory for California Dreamin’.
Six households received the Holiday Hall of Fame Award: the Hindle family, the Melena family, the Bernard family, Michael Clayton, the Dickerson family and the Cardona family.
Honorable mentions were given to 11 other households.
“We had more honorable mentions than ever before,” Smitherman said.
The Recreation and Parks commissioners received 31 nominations this year, a 106% increase over last year’s nominations, according to Smitherman.
“Our numbers fluctuate every year, but this is our biggest year by far,” he said. “We were a little caught off guard thinking that it would be a last-minute rush to get nominations, but we received some the very first day the nomination period opened.”
The winners were recognized virtually at Tuesday’s City Council meeting and will receive a plaque from the department as well as a yard sign to show off the award.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
