I hope you enjoy the video, it was a lot of fun to create!😁
As we begin the new year, it’s time to wrap up our Sussex County Lights – Holiday Decorating Challenge by selecting our top Three winners.
The Sussex County Lights – Holiday Decorating Challenge began on December 2nd and ran through December 24th. We had 45 entries that saw over 7,800 votes.
During this same time period LifeInSussex.com saw over 18,000 visitors, with the Sussex County Lights pages being viewed over 58,000 times!
I am blown away by the participation in our Challenge, not only by the number of entries, but also by the number of county residents visiting all of the displays.
I did a quick search online and found that Sussex County has a population of approximately 146,000 people. 62% of the population are between the ages of 18 to 64 years old (which makes up the majority of our website visitors), that equals 90,520 people. Doing some quick math, almost 20% of that population visited Life In Sussex in less than a month’s time!
With that said, I want to thank everyone who entered their beautiful displays in our challenge, and I want to thank everyone who visited our website to View, Vote, and Visit all of these wonderful creations. The community support for our first Sussex County Lights – Holiday Decorating Challenge was just amazing!!!
I have to say, your displays didn’t disappoint! There were so many great ones entered, and it was so much fun driving around and looking at many of them during this holiday season.
This past week my wife and I took a trip around Sussex County and visited the top 6 displays with the most community votes. We looked at the top 6 because 3rd – 6th place were all really close in Votes, and we felt it was necessary to give all of those displays a full review.
While not everyone who entered will win a prize, the entire county won because you stepped up and created a display for all to enjoy.
So without further ado let’s start with our honorable mentions…
Honorable Mentions
Craven Family Fun Lights
First we have Craven Family Fun Lights. Located in Vernon Township, their house sits atop a hill a ways back from the road. Even with that distance you could still enjoy the light show from the comfort of your car.
Their light show was different every night, and on the night we visited we were greeted with a green and red pattern. Located to the right of the house was an 18ft inflatable Santa, and on the other side was a Polar Bear. Throughout the lawn were lighted trees and other Christmas characters including Santa and his sleigh.
This was a fun visit and I want to thank the Craven Family for putting so much work in to their display.
Stickles Pond Christmas
The next honorable mention was Stickles Pond Christmas. This was a hard one for us. Their display was absolutely amazing, but unfortunately they just didn’t have enough community votes to push them to the top three.
The light show was synced to music that you could hear by tuning your car radio, and the music was a lot of fun, not your traditional Christmas tunes. Their display uses more than 37,000 LED pixels and an 8’ x 4’ video screen synchronized to music.
Lets start with their house, the roof was lined with lights and each window was lit on the edges and had an animation in the center. There were arched shapes across the front of the lawn with the video screen in the middle. There were other animated characters throughout the lawn along with trees that displayed patters in sync with the music. They had another video screen closer to the road promoting their support for Benny’s Bodega, a local nonprofit. There was a digital sign out front with a prompt to tune your radio to hear the music.
I can only imagine the time it must have taken to build this display, and they do it every year. If you didn’t make it over to Stickles Pond Road this year, you definitely need to put it on the list for next year.
I also want to thank the home owners for the shoutout. In between songs they promoted Sussex County Lights on their radio broadcast and encouraged visitors to jump on their phones and head over to our website. This was awesome!!!
Sussex Christmas House
The last honorable mention goes to Sussex Christmas House. This display had so many things to look at. You could stand there for 30 minutes and still not see everything.
100% of their lighting is LED which really delivers those intense colors. There is a lighted arch way over the driveway that is big enough to drive through, and as you enter the driveway you are greeted by two giant animated toy soldiers one on each side of the entrance. To the right of the driveway there was a snowman party going on!
The house and trees were decorated with string lights, and the walkway has oversized lights leading you up the steps through a huge arch that looks like a giant string of Christmas lights. Inflatables filled the yard, and on the porch roof is Santa is prepping for takeoff in his hot air balloon.
New for this year is their Gingerbread Spa, that included some really cool looking cutouts outlined with glowing light. Also new for this year is their Ice Skating Pond that features Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock skating the night away. And we can’t leave out the oversized peppermint candies that decorate the window shutters.
This display certainly added a massive bright spot of color to the Borough of Sussex. Thank you for taking the time to create such an awesome holiday display!
Third Place
The Mergs Light It Up Clark Griswold Style
Now to Third Place and the winner of two tickets to the Big Apple Comedy Club 53 at The Newton Theatre….. The Mergs Light It Up Clark Griswold Style!!!
As you take a ride down Mudcut Road you can’t miss this house. True to Clark Griswold, the entire house is covered in lights. Aside from the lights on the gutters, roof lines, doors and windows, the roof is also covered in lights. The glow this house puts out lights up the entire street!
Ice sickle lights hang from the gutters and below the windows and LED snowflakes and characters decorate the windows and walls of the house. The bushes are covered in lighting, and candy canes line the walkway in front of the house. Classic blow mold figures, along with modern LED figures decorate the lawn and steps leading to the front door.
Trees are wrapped in bright LED lights along with snowflakes hanging from the branches, and a giant Merry Christmas sign on the side yard fence greets you as you drive down the road.
And we can’t forget about the classic Santa and his Reindeer perched on the roof top.
Their display is ready to go the day after Thanksgiving, so if you didn’t see it this year, add it to your “must see” list for next year.
Congratulations on your Third Place win and thank you for creating such a bright display that gives us flashbacks to everyone’s favorite Christmas movie.
Second Place
Classic Christmas
Now to Second Place and winner of a $100 Gift Certificate to Tee Performance Indoor Golf…. Classic Christmas!!!!
Located on Silver Grove Road in Hardyston, you won’t miss this display. It has over 30,000 lights spread along 300 feet of road frontage, that provides plenty of space to pull over and take in this feast for the eyes.
Using a combination of string lights, ice sickle lights, and flood lights, this display has more of an old fashioned Christmas feel to it with a red and green color scheme.
Ice sickle lights line the gutters with string lights around doors and windows. Red and green flood lights project color on the house giving it an overall glow. There’s a large lighted wreath on the front of the house along with Christmas trees and snow flakes on the roof. The bushes are covered in red and green net lighting and candy canes line the walkway leading to the front door. Waiting to greet you as you pull in the driveway is Santa and Comet standing in his stable.
The home owners took full advantage of their space and decorated their yard starting with the shrubs along the road, to the very back of their side yard. This gives your eye so many places to look, from up close to off in the distance.
The lighted trees and shapes to the left of the house look beautiful, but what really stood out to me was the right side yard. Up close to the road is a tree with lighted shapes and a lighted ground covering below it. Moving across the side yard is a Hot Coco stand with lighted characters. Going back just a bit you see giant Christmas ornaments, lighted candy canes, and another section with decorations and ground cover. Behind that are large snowmen and other lighted trees and structures. This depth really draws you in to discover all of the gems this display has to offer.
Congratulations on your Second Place win, and thank you for sharing your amazing display with the community.
First Place
The Highland Lakes Grinch
And now, our First Place winner, and recipient of a $250 Gift Certificate to The Ampersand Inn….. The Highland Lakes Grinch!!!
Located in the Highland Lakes section of Vernon Township, this display feels like you’re visiting a Christmas themed amusement park.
Alturas Road is a little tight and parking is limited, but once you find a spot you are welcomed to get out and visit with the Highlands Lake Grinch.
Whether you’re young or old this display is certainly a sight to see.
It’s small in size but big in scale.
It’s got light ups and blow ups and candy can trails.
It’s got flashers and flickers and fiddly dos.
It’s got Grinches and Max and Cindy Lou Who.
It’s got Rudolphs and Frostys and Santa’s that fly.
It’s got a strange little skeleton waving goodbye
It’s got penguins, and Yodas and Minions galore.
It’s got Photos with Santa near the front door.
It’s got a giant Homer Simpson who looks down on it all.
It’s got a giant snow globe in the shape of a ball.
Photos can be had with the Grinch if you’d like
Just bring him an onion and he’ll be in delight
Our time with the Grinch had come to an end, so we walked to our truck to begin the descend.
We rolled down the window as we passed by, when we noticed a tear building up in his eye.
He waved with his hands and he waved with his feet, it would be next Christmas when again we shall meet.
We heard the Grinch say as we drove out of site, Merry Grinchmas to all, and to all a good night!
Congratulations on your First Place win!!!
Congratulations to all of our winners!!!
Happy Holidays,
Trevor
Members of Life In Sussex staff have contributed to this post.
