WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Sticking with their theme of “bringing back Christmas,” the City of Warner Robins hopes to excite some holiday cheer within its citizens just as they walk down the street or ride down the road. In the coming days and weeks you can expect to see houses, apartment patios and storefronts ablaze with lights as their owners decorate for the upcoming holiday.
Those living in these homes or working in their stores have a goal: to win the City of Warner Robins’ Christmas Light Competition. The Journal spoke with Keep Warner Robins Beautiful Director Tiffany Bowen for details.
“The premise for [the competition] is based on our Home of the Month, Business of the Month awards that we do,” Bowen said. “We’ve expanded it into a Christmas theme so we can decorate more of the city than ever before. The idea is to bring that spirit back to the city and reward those folks that are contributing to that.”
Warner Robins citizens have the opportunity to reach out to Keep Warner Robins Beautiful via email at kwrb@wrga.gov and nominate a home or business they believe is showing the holiday spirit through Christmas decorations and window displays. Participants can self-nominate, or nominate others. In addition to businesses and homes, the competition is open to apartments and their patios as well.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Bowen said. “A lot more people are kind of going all out with their decorations. They want the sign, they want that recognition. That competition vibe is a lot of drive for people to go, ‘oh, I want that. I can do this. I can win that.’”
All nominations are due — and all decorations should be placed — by Friday, Dec. 2. Once all nominations have been collected, Keep Warner Robins Beautiful will begin judging. According to Bowen, this year’s competition is steep.
Bowen said that the judging of each home and business will be based on a rubric — each individual nominee will be graded on a set of values. Whoever leaves with the highest score wins. Cleanliness, creativity, quantity and quality all play a part.
Winners in each category will have their picture taken, will be given a sign that designates them as the Christmas Decoration Competition winner of 2022 in their given category, and a gift card from Warner Robins Supply, a local building supply company.
This competition is marked as the city’s inaugural Christmas Decoration Competition. In the future, Bowen said, they plan to do more.
“There’s been a lot of excitement for it,” Bowen said. “We hope that, from here, it continues to grow and expand. The city is very excited for it, the citizens are very excited to participate in it and the Keep Warner Robins Beautiful Board are excited to see how much of the city is beautified from it.”
Warner Robins Convention & Visitors Bureau does keep a running list of Christmas decoration displays. Bowen said they will be asking willing participants to enter into the map so that viewers can easily visit them with friends and family.
Finally, Bowen encourages anyone on the fence about competing to give it a try.
“Go for it,” Bowen said. “There’s nothing to lose. Absolutely go for it. It’s the spirit of the season, especially for businesses and apartments. It’s a pilot program, we’re trying to get it to expand, and the more entries we get in homes, businesses and apartments, the more we’re going to be able do with it next year.”
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