After a successful community Halloween decorating contest, Jennifer Richardson is back at it again, this time organizing a similar 'COVID-free' event to be enjoyed by families during the holiday season.
"The way it took off was crazy which is awesome," said Richardson about the Halloween contest.
The new light contest invites residents to enter the contest for $10, and decorate their homes in festive decor and lights, with proceeds going toward the Innisfil Food Bank and Christmas 4 Kids charities.
From Dec. 11 -18, residents will have the opportunity to judge the lights and cast votes for the best-decorated houses with winners announced on Dec. 19. This time around there will be various contest categories, which are still being finalized with the mayor and members of council taking part in the judging. Everyone is welcome to drive/walk by and enjoy the lights, however, only residents of Innisfil will be allowed to cast their votes.
For the Halloween contest, nearly 100 houses participated, with many coming from out of town just to see all the gruesomely gore-y decor. A total of $575 went to each charity. This time around, Richardson is hoping to have at least 100 participants take part in the community event.
And her hard work setting up the contest has even inspired people in other communities to offer a similar event in their neighbourhoods.
"I had one lady reach out to me from Elmvale who wants to do the same thing in her community," said Richardson. "So that's even cooler, the more communities that do this, the better, as long as everyone is safe doing it."
Although organizing the contests is time-consuming, Richardson says it has been a great distraction from all the doom and gloom that COVID has presented this year, keeping her busy and something else to focus on.
"That last week before the (Halloween) contest, both my kid's schools had COVID cases, and I didn't freak out at all, I was too busy worrying about the contest," she laughed. "I totally could have gone into a spiral of worry, but it gave me something else to worry and think about."
Anyone interested in taking part in the contest or donate a prize can sign up on Light It Up Innisfil Facebook page here by Dec. 10. Questions or comments can also be emailed directly to Richardson at [email protected] .
