Bourbonnais shines this holiday season: Winners announced for fifth annual lighting contest

The Holiday Homes & Holly Jolly Lighting Contest continues to illuminate the village of Bourbonnais through the Christmas holiday.

The fifth annual event began on Dec. 6 and encouraged residential festive lighting and decorations. Participants could enter for a chance to win in Traditional and People’s Choice categories. An online map of 26 holiday homes is currently available for viewing at villageofbourbonnais.com.

In the Traditional Category, The Richmond Family (Entry 17) at 636 Cherokee Drive claimed first place, Bryan and Lalah Lowry (Entry 21) at 1200 Stratford Drive West took second and The Bleyle Family (Entry 25) at 1344 Mill Pond Road placed third.

A few “Merry Mentions” in the Traditional Category were given to The Ramirez Family (Entry 8) at 715 Tremont St. and James and Lisa DeVelder (Entry 15) at 257 Harvard Ave. in a tie for fourth place; and The McCoy Family (Entry 11) at 895 School Drive and Kevin and Gisela Kretzer (Entry 19) at 299 Belmont Ave. tied for fifth.

In the People’s Choice Category, The Ramirez Family (Entry 8) claimed first place with 559 votes. In second place, The Bleyle Family (Entry 25) earned 512 votes and James and Lisa DeVelder (Entry 15) placed third with 475 votes.

Merry Mentions in this category went to The Bober Family (Entry 13) at 6121 Park View Drive in fourth place with 311 votes and The McCoy Family (Entry 11) in fifth place with 284 votes.

First place winners in each category received a $100 Visa gift card, with second and third place winners receiving a $50 and $25 Visa gift card respectively. Prizes were made possible by the event sponsors ComEd and Brandon Casey’s Comfort Crew.

The Traditional Category was judged by an outside panel of guest judges including resident Mary Schore, former lighting contest winner Craig Toepfer and sponsor Brandon Casey.

Winners of the People’s Choice Category were voted on by the public via the village’s Facebook page Dec. 6-15. A total of 4,150 votes were calculated for the People’s Choice category. In 2023, 3,600 votes were tallied.

There’s still time to enjoy – take a Christmas cruise around the Village of Bourbonnais using the online map here (Google Maps) or here (PDF).

For upcoming village events, visit villageofbourbonnais.com/residents/events.

https://daily-journal.com/news/local/bourbonnais-shines-this-holiday-season-winners-announced-for-fifth-annual-lighting-contest/article_97cecb36-c216-11ef-acb0-73283d02b84d.html