By James Windell
South Haven has had holiday lights competitions before, but not quite like this year. The South Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered with Mayor Annie Brown and Kathy Rusin of Shooting Star to sponsor the Sparkle Showdown.
“This all started when Kathy Rusin from Shooting Star contacted us and said she would like to do a holiday contest,” Jennifer Sistrunk, Executive Director of the South Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. “Kathy had some money that she wanted to put towards a contest. With support from our Mayor Annie Brown, who has hosted smaller contests before, we’ve turned it into a community-wide event.”
The sponsors invited all residents in the 49090 Zip Code area to join the South Haven Sparkle Showdown and enter the contest for the most dazzling holiday light display in town. Anyone could register and vote for up to three of the contestants. Contestants chose names for themselves so that they remained anonymous.
Voting closed on December 23rd at midnight and the top three displays were announced on Christmas Eve.
The first-place winner, receiving a check for $1500, was Bob and Marcia Volkers’ Ring in Christmas with Joy.
“The Volkers live on Country Road 689 and a lot of their neighbors have been enjoying their display of lights for years,” says Sistrunk.
Second place and a check for $1,000 went to Christmas in the Country by Mark and Tammi Dibble. The third-place prize of $500 was given to Christmas Corner Neighborhood Forest “All the Trees You See.” This display was put together by a group of neighbors near Indiana Street.
Jeremy Buckingham, who facilitated the neighborhood forest display, says that he and his neighbors plan to donate the prize money. “We donated the funds to the South Haven High School to start a secret Santa club,” says Buckingham. “The kids understand giving and they raise funds and then give it away by walking up to random strangers and handing them cash.”
Sistrunk says that even though there have been holiday lights contests in the past, this was the inaugural Sparkle Showdown. “We do plan on doing Sparkle Showdown again next year, and, hopefully, it will grow,” she says. “We really want to get the town lit up with lights.”
