Dorset’s dazzling light displays
• The winning light display entry at 33 Spotswood Drive Scottsdale.
• Dorset Christmas Lights Competition winners John and Donna Davis of Scottsdale celebrating with their $600 prize!
By Taylor Clyne
December 18, 2019
If there was one word to describe our inaugural Dorset Christmas Lights Competition it would be WOW, just wow.
The Advertiser was overwhelmed with entries spanning the region with unique, thoughtful and creative displays which truly ignited our Christmas fever.
Asking the community to decorate their homes in lights is no mean feat so we were thrilled to receive nine entries from Bridport, two from Springfield and 17 from Scottsdale in our inaugural year.
Local Christmas light lady Joanne Bowen joined Scottsdale Visitor Centre’s Helen Shepherd and myself in separately judging each entrant over Sunday and Monday nights.
We scored each home under a strict and confidential points system looking for visual impact, uniqueness, creativity, attention to detail and traditional Christmas themes.
After an independent tallied the judges scores, we are thrilled to announce that John and Donna Davis of Scottsdale walked away with first place winning $600 cash for Christmas!
The couple said they were totally shocked and absolutely thrilled with the news,
“There are some really great light set ups this year which is so good to see.
“We started decorating our home about 20 years ago, first for our kids and then for our grand kids,” John said.
“It was so good to see the light displays return to the area this year; it was like it used to be back in the day when everyone used to get involved.
“It brings so much joy to people and the area. Thank you so much,” Donna said.
Second place was awarded to Matthew and Deyarna Muir of Springfield receiving $350 and third place was an equal points tie between Kerry Burrows of Bridport and Michaela Carins of Scottsdale. They will split the $150 cash prize.
The amazing cash prizes are thanks to our generous sponsors Pineview Dairies, TasStock Feed, Dorset Council and the North-Eastern Advertiser.
Judge Helen Shepherd said she found the task quite interesting as she used to put up a light display for many years.
“We understand the time and effort spent on the displays, so we certainly appreciated the effort everyone put in and hope to see further progression in the coming years,” she said.
Joanne Bowen congratulated everyone on their exceptional effort.
“Being a lover of Christmas and light displays it was so nice to see the town getting into the Christmas spirit,” she said.
“Maybe next year we could introduce a people’s choice award too,” Mrs Bowen said.
Further placing that did not receive a prize but are worth being noted include: Mark and Julie Walters of Scottsdale in fourth, Adam Jackson of Scottsdale in fifth, Will Baxter of Bridport in sixth and Neil Oliver of Bridport in seventh.
Scores were exceptionally close, and a congratulations and thanks are extended to all entries, we look forward to growing bigger and better in 2020.
Creative letterboxes catch the eye
Our sister Letterbox Competition was extremely popular in the community with more than fifty creative entries received from across the municipality.
The competition was aimed at those who still wanted to get into the Christmas spirit but couldn’t commit to decorating an entire house.
Our under 10s category was the most popular, with lots of children having a blast decorating their letterboxes into festive pieces of art.
Our judge Mayor Greg Howard said picking winners was extremely difficult with so many entries catching his eye.
From metres and metres of tinsel, snowman’s, elves, candy canes, gingerbread houses, paint, upcycled ideas, papier-mache and more.
Winners are listed as follows:
Under 10 category: first $100: Grace, Lucas and James Smylie of Bridport, second $50: Lily Muir of Springfield and third $25: Millie, Mason and Mahalia of West Scottsdale.
10-18 years category: first $100: Tahlia Child of Scottsdale, second $50: Regan Colgrave of Scottsdale and third $25: Larni Evans of Springfield.
Open category: first $100: Sandra Chugg and Chris Thirkell of Bridport, second $50: Andrew Brown of Scottsdale and third $25: Deyarna Muir of Springfield.
All winners will be contacted by the Advertiser today.
