Merrill’s Holiday Decorating Contest 2022 winners
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Merrill’s Dec. 21, 2022, City Lights Bus Tour took all those who signed up for the tour on a drive past 16 sparkling area residential homes and 4 glowing area businesses that participated in the First Merrill Holiday Decorating Contest, sponsored in partnership by the City of Merrill and the Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce. All 75 seats on the 3 Merrill Go-Round Buses were reserved, and some callers were told the buses were full when then called to reserve a seat, so the City and the Merrill Transit System were very pleased with the turnout.
Riders on the bus voted for the homes and business decorations they liked best, with each rider getting a ballot to complete. Those votes were tallied and determined the winners of this year’s contest.
In the residential decorating category, the Merrill Holiday Decorating Contest winners are:
First place – The home of Kenneth and Verjean Van De Zande at 105 W. Riverside Ave., Merrill.
Second place – The home of Neil and Laurel Steinagel at 411 E 8th St., Merrill.
Third place was a tie, with two homes receiving an equal number of votes. The two homes selected to share third place honors are the homes of Shauna Bush-Cooper at 118 N State St. in Merrill and the home of Randall Lambrecht at 1003 Jefferson St. in Merrill.
The winners of the residential category received Chamber bucks to use at businesses in the Merrill area: $100 in Chamber bucks for first place, $75 in Chamber bucks for second place, and $25 in Chamber bucks to each of the third place winners.
In the business decorating category, the winners are:
First place – Park City Credit Union, 501 S. Pine Ridge Ave., Merrill.
Second place – Inclusa, 101 E. 1st St., Merrill.
Third place – Strive 4 Life, LLC, 730 E. 2nd St., Merrill.
The winning businesses in the business decorating category will receive a small plaque.
“Thank you to everyone who made Merrill’s small-town charm sparkle this holiday season!” said Chantel Kuczmarski, Communications Consultant for the City of Merrill.
“In an effort to make Merrill’s Tour of Lights Bus Ride more exciting, we thought hosting a city-wide holiday decorating contest would encourage more people to decorate their homes and businesses, and make it more fun for riders by having them be the judges,” said Brad Brummond, Merrill Transit Administrator.
Mission accomplished. This year the buses were full to capacity for this fun, free event for all ages.
Want to take your own tour of the holiday lights? To view a map listing all the homes and businesses that participated in Merrill’s Holiday Decorating Contest, visit: www.merrillchamber.org or go to: https://www.facebook.com/merrill.chamber1/photos/a.1503934533174796/3460869820814581. Many other homes are also decorated but were not registered as contest participants.