Who won the 2024 Neighborhood Best Holiday Décor event? First, let’s start out with who didn’t win. Here is a partial list of non-winners:
-If your neighborhood monument is in Des Moines, Iowa, you didn’t win.
-If your neighborhood monument wasn’t decorated, you didn’t win (helping others doesn’t count).
-If you didn’t win, you didn’t win.
Okay, so who the heck won? Ah, first the side story. A team of judges made their rounds the first weekend of December 2024, taking in the beauty and creativity of all 12 neighborhoods that decorated their monuments. Some displays were quite elaborate, some were aesthetically unbusy, and some were in between. But all were admirably creative. Rumor has it that the judging was so challenging that the stress of deciding on the winner pushed one of the judges to announce retirement from future events. Not really, but the decorations were that good.
Now for the winner! After much deliberation, the team of judges decided on Balmoral as being 2024’s winner of the Best Holiday Decorated Neighborhood. The ringleader of Balmoral’s monument decorators, Lynne Shineman explained that she and her team created a new design for 2024, going all out with their decorations that included pink flamingos wearing Santa hats. One idea sparked another among the team of creators, a team that includes Ray Piergiorgi, Cheri Stark, Ellen Attenson, Lynn Ihlenburg, Rosemary Rhodes and Addie, the canine helper.
Upon completion of their creation, the team celebrated with a “Light Up Balmoral” gala that appropriately began with the connecting of two extension cords. Presto! A winner is born. Bragging rights for 2025!
So, what’s up for next year’s décor? Lynne told me that it will be sure to at least equal this year’s monument, and flat out said no when I asked if residents might be performing ballet on top of the monument. Just throwin’ out some ideas. Don’t even think about it!
Congratulations and thanks to all the artistic participants of this year’s event. Perhaps this competition will be an inviting challenge for more neighborhoods next year.
Author: Dave DeAngelis, World News Writer
