Manchester Residents Go All Out For Holiday Home Decorating Contest winners

The Manchester Township Recreation Department revived its Holiday Home Decorating contest this year, and director Tracey Lynch said the 21 entries kicked off its return in spectacular fashion.

“This was the first year that we brought back the contest and with 21 entries and so many amazing displays it was hard to choose a winner,” Lynch said. “The judging was based on five different categories; originality/creativity, quality, visual effect, theme and over-all impact.”

In the end, four homes -- including a tie for third place -- were chosen:

First place, 13 Anjou Court in Renaissance: On Anjou Court in Renaissance, Ken and Carol Sullivan had an absolutely amazing display of Christmas and what the Recreation Department referred to as “Winter Wonderland”, Lynch said. The house located on the corner is adorned with lights, mechanical characters, Santa and even a carriage full of presents pulled by parading horses. The home was just an extraordinary display and the lighted manger added to the essence of Christmas.

Second place, 1112 Southampton Blvd.: This home is on the very busy street in Pine Lake Park, at the corner of Southampton and Commonwealth. “What a great location for this display of Christmas,” Lynch said. ”So many residents get to enjoy the creativity and hard work of John and Tracy Schubach.” Their “Multi Themed Holiday Display” proudly displays all aspects of Christmas; Santa in his sleigh flying over the homes to deliver the presents to all the children and also travelers who followed the North Star to visit Jesus in the manger.

Third place, tie, 507-A Lilac Lane: This home on the east end was dubbed ”The True Meaning of Christmas,” Lynch said. Virginia and Tom Cavallo clearly put so much effort into their display to show all the residents what Christmas is truly about, Lynch said.

Third place, tie, 10 Second St.: The other third-place recipient was on the west end of town. Monique Placek’s display was voted “The Spirit of Christmas”. With Santa and his reindeer adorning the entire front lawn of the home and all the lights hung about, this home gave us all the warmth and feeling of the holiday season through a child’s eye, Lynch said.

Lynch, who thanked Manchester Township PBA 246 for the prizes, thanked all of the residents who participated.

“We are looking forward to next year,” she said.

Follow all of the recreation department’s doings on its Facebook page.

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com.

Stay on top of Patch’s local coverage of Manchester by subscribing to the daily newsletter, here.

You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions. Curious about how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your community.