1st place - Austin & Shannon Dritz2nd place - Gus & Mayra Molina3rd place -Tom & Kim Abraham4th place - "Peanuts" & Ali Kloos 5th place- Lynn & Barb Okrina

AND THE WINNERS ARE ...

Dritz's of rural Taunton win top prize of over $500 in gifts

And we have our winners!
The first annual Minneota Mascot Christmas Lighting Contest, now being dubbed the "Battle of the Bulbs", proved to be a huge success with 29 participants showcasing lights, inflatables and other decorations in Minneota, Ghent and Taunton.
The home of Austin and Shannon Dritz of 3497 County Highway 7 in rural Taunton was awarded first place by the six judges and will take home well over $500 in gifts donated by local businesses.
The Dritz's had an assortment of lights and displays that were organized and well displayed. As you enter their driveway, visitors are greeted by a display of a white snowman and two cardinals.
"The cardinals represent our twin sons that we lost late in the second trimester last November (2019)," said Austin. "We had names picked out for them, Branch and Cooper. So we wanted to have a display up for them."
The Dritz's decorate their home for Christmas every year, but decided to add more this year for the contest.
"We usually add a little more each year," Austin said. "And this year we put a little more into it when we heard about the contest. We appreciate being chosen one of the winners."
Second place of over $250 in gifts went to Gus and Mayra Molina of 504 E. Lyon Street in Minneota.
"I always decorate every year because I want it to be special for the kids," said Gus, referring to his son, Amadeus, 11; and daughter Adelle, 9. "I want them to remember Christmas."
The Molinas did not hear about the lighting contest until Gus was completely done decorating.
"A friend texted me and said you are going to win the contest," Gus said. "I said, 'What contest?' So I entered and I'm glad I did now. We drove around and looked at everyone's lights and there were some really nice ones."
A colorful archway adorns the front of the Molina home.
"I saw that on Pinterest that was made out of PVC piping," Gus said. "So I went and bought some piping and strung the lights all around. I put PVC piping around all the windows, too, so the lights would be straight and look nice, too."
Because of the tremendous generosity of several local businesses in Minneota, Ghent, Taunton and Marshall, as well as so many homeowners participating, the top three places were awarded more than the original value of the prizes, plus a fourth- and fifth-place winner were added, too.
Kim and Tom Abraham of 2092 320th St. North in rural Minneota was our third-place winner of over $100 in gifts.
"That's so exciting," said Kim when told they were one of the winners. "It's our son's (Landon) 21st birthday today, too, so this is a nice surprise for all of us."
The Abrahams also had a uniformed lighting display around their country home that had lighted wreaths in the windows and lit milk bottles in the front yard among many other lights and displays.
"We always put up lights, but we put up more this year for the contest," said Kim. "We wanted to lift our Christmas spirits this year."
Fourth place went to Peanuts and Ali Kloos and their son Austin of 605 E. Lyon Street in Minneota. They will receive $75 in gift cards.
Lynn and Barb Okrina of 109 Golf Course Road in Minneota were the fifth-place winner of $55 in gift cards.
The was the first contest the Mascot has sponsored and appears set to continue each year.
"This was so much fun," said one homeowner. "We didn't expect to win, but it was fun being involved and seeing all the traffic going up and down the streets looking at everyone's lights. I've never seen that many cars out before on the streets."
The purpose of the "Battle of the Bulbs" was to allow families to have something to do during this pandemic period that has caused many annual holiday events to be cancelled.
It also gave community members in and around the three communities a chance to take in all the lights, whether or not they were registered in the contest.
Judges were impartial and included three males and three females. Each judge had a different personal favorite. Some judges commented that they preferred certain types of lights and traditional Christmas displays, while others looked at how much work was involved in the decorating process of the homeowners.
The Mascot would like to thank all participants and sponsors that made the contest possible. Sponsors are listed in the "Outside Looking In" column on Page 4.

Contact Us

The Minneota Mascot
Address: 201 N. Jefferson
Minneota, MN 56264

Phone:(507) 872-6492