Vincent Patrick Realty’s 5th Annual holiday decorating contest was one to remember! This year, we had a total of 53 houses 982 votes, more than double what we had last year. We are so incredibly proud and thankful to have so many wonderful displays on the trail this year. Our first-place winner had a total of 180 votes!
This year, in addition to first and second place, we have decided to also give a Light up Garrettsville prize. We had the most houses decorated in Garrettsville area! Thank you hometown Garrettsville!
Light up Garrettsville Favorite
#11 – 7975 Vanderslice Ct, Garrettsville. Rachel and David Grabowski were first-place winners of the Holiday Light Trail for 4 years running – and we are proud to say they are still #1 in votes for Garrettsville. The Grabowski’s have been putting up their Christmas Display for 9 years. They like to classify their display as “Grandma’s Christmas” with many traditional Christmas themes and colors. They start decorating right after they take down their Halloween display and they try to have the lights up and running by Thanksgiving night. Dave and Rachel’s newest addition, the 7-foot “Frosty the Snowman” was handmade and painted by Dave (just like most of their decorations!) While they have not had much interaction with onlookers this year, their neighbors let them know there has been a nice and steady crowd coming through to check out the lights.
Second Place Winners
#98 – 9093 12th Street, North Benton. David and Rachel Igo won first place for two years previous to this! This year, they worked toward bringing their display into the backyard as well, with extra trees, a life-sized angel plus a smaller one, and a couple of new reindeer! It takes them an entire month to get it put together – they start decorating on November 1st and try to get the synchronized light show up and running by Thanksgiving night. Their favorite part of the Holiday, however, is opening up presents with their kids on Christmas morning. Their youngest daughter just reached pre-school, and they lovingly gushed that she would be able to help put up the display next year!
First Place Winner
#52 – 6818 Fairview Rd, Austintown. Justin Johns of Austintown, Ohio is our first-place winner! Justin is a real estate agent like us! He is also the manager of the Austintown Dairy Queen. He is 23 years old but has been decorating for around 15 years! When he was young, his parents began a tradition of buying him a new Christmas inflatable every year – and now his collection has grown to a point where we get to see his gorgeous display at his grandparent’s house! His favorite part of the season is seeing the people who drive by and stop to see all of his decorations. At times, he will pass out candy canes to the people who stop to check out the display. His grandparents have been living there for many years and the neighbors look forward to seeing his display at the Holiday approaches.
We are so grateful for every participant in the Holiday Light Trail, from those who signed up to be a part of the trail to the many people who took the trail and voted! We are so flattered by the turnout this year and cannot wait to keep growing the trail as we grow.
We have decided to host an appreciation event for our Holiday Light Trail Participants and voters. Contact us to get a postcard invitation in the mail to join us for our FREE Valentine’s movie night this February. Details to be announced!
