To All Residents of Prestonwood Forest:

It’s that time again!  The holidays are just around the corner and some of us are already getting excited about participating in the 31+ year tradition of Prestonwood’s Nite of Lites celebration.

For our new residents that don’t know, PWF has been spotlighted in all local newspapers (major and minor), all local television stations, The Travel Channel and last year, our wonderful neighborhood was spotlighted on Fox News which broadcasts nationwide!  That was quite an honor for all of us and now it’s up to each and every one of us to uphold the reputation that PWF has obtained by being the “Christmas Lights Neighborhood”.

This year's Nite of Lites officially begins on Saturday, December 12th and will end on January 3rd.

Judging on Saturday will begin around dusk.  To be eligible for any of the great prizes that we have received for this year’s event, you will need to have your lights and displays ready by the time the judges start their rounds on Saturday evening.  See below for lights on, lights off time table.

We know that putting out lights and displays is a lot of hard work.  We also know that once the creation is finished, you want to show it off.  We welcome you to start turning your lights on the first weekend of December but please, follow the time table below.  By following this schedule it will help to lessen the traffic flow late at night (when all the mischief occurs) and our extra security coverage is planned around the Nite of Lites time schedule. 

Lights On
       All Days                    6:00pm

Lights Off
       Monday thru Thursday        10:00pm
       Friday thru Sunday               11:00pm
This year again, we will be announcing the awards, distribution of prizes and delivery of yard signs just like last year.  Winners will be notified on Sunday afternoon, December 13th.  We will award the prizes and deliver yard signs at that time as well as take pictures of the winners and their displays for the Prestonwood Press.  We feel this is a more considerate method than year’s past because when presenting awards, which was very late at night, we had to awake some of the winners from their winter's nap!

Again the winners will be able to keep the yard signs so they can display them in upcoming years.  The PWF Board voted unanimously to again implement this request and will increase this year’s Nite of Lites budget to cover the cost of the signs.  This will also be another new tradition. So, this year, all winners will not need to return their yard signs to the Committee and will be able to proudly display their signs each year!
 
Categories being judged this year are:

Best House
         Best Block
                   Best Mailbox
                             Best Door
                                       Best Lamp Post
                                                Runner-up Block

So far, cash prizes have been contributed by the PWF Maintenance Association.

To help judge the Nite of Lites competition this year, we are seeking volunteers.  We need a panel of eight to ten judges or possibly twelve.  If you or anyone you know (non-residents are a bonus!) would like to donate their Saturday evening to participate by being a judge for the Nite of Lites, please contact me or Tina.  A dinner for will be hosted before the judging officially begins so that we can discuss the rules, guidelines and criteria for the contest.

Thank you to all of the residents that have participated for so many years.  Remember that PWF has elderly and infirm residents that would love to participate in the Nite of Lites tradition but are unable to decorate, so please, help your neighbors.  If you would like to volunteer to help a resident decorate, or know of a church group or organization that would like to help those whom cannot decorate please call Tina or me.  We will try to pair up those that need help with those that want to help.

Good luck to all those that are vying for an award and a special THANK YOU to all the residents of non-Christian faiths that show their neighborly spirit and participate each year.

We wish you all a safe and joyous holiday season!

Nite of Lites Chairpersons
Russell May and Tina Lizmi