Marco’s best decorated named

MARCO ISLAND — It was a little after 10 o’clock on Friday night as Boo Boo, Yogi, and Baby Bear were taking their nightly walk with their master, Erik Tamayo, when what to their wondrous eyes should appear — no, not Santa’s sleigh and eight tiny reindeer — but the Marco Island Trolley loaded with who else but the Christmas Marco Island Style Home and Business Decorating Committee.

“Ironically, my wife Maby, and I had just returned home after taking a ride to see a decorated house on Barfield Drive and it was later than usual for me to walk our dogs,” Erick recalled.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the trolley, so I started running wildly toward our house to tell Maby that I thought we had won.”

Tamayo’s hunch was right on the money as he arrived just in time to be the first to learn that, yes indeed, his residence was the committee’s choice as the 2008 house decorating winner along with a $500 cash prize and a lawn sign which traditionally winners have displayed annually. The Tamayos came out on top from the list of 20 finalists.

“We first put up our decorations last year because we were having our family spend the holidays with us,” Erik explained. “Then this year we just re-arranged a few things and added a little more. I got my inspiration from last year’s winner at 160 Bermuda Rd. This year we had the help of an electrician who showed me how not to blow out the circuit breakers all the time and some better ways to hook everything up. I also checked everything out as I unpacked it. It makes it easier than doing it after you put it up.”

Winning the decorating contest was just the start of a string of good luck for the Tamayos as Maby is expecting their first baby — Mateo — on Jan. 16 and Erik is going to make sure the newborn will see his work.

“It usually takes me a couple of weeks to put everything up and we always take it down a couple of days after New Year’s Day, but because of Mateo, we’re going to leave the decorations up a little longer so everybody can enjoy them. That includes Boo Boo (a Jack Russell), Yogi (a Huskie the Tamayos brought home from a local animal shelter), and Baby Bear (a daschund they saved from an abusive situation.)

But as everyone knows who ever strung a Christmas set of lights, there always comes a time when everything that goes up must come down and with the scads of decorations, they all must be stored somewhere.

“People ask me that all the time,” Erik chuckled. “We’re fortunate that we have a rather tall ceiling in our garage. We also have five large shelves that hang from it and that’s where I store everything for the following year. That way it’s out of sight and ready to go.”

The Tamayos reside at 1211 Lamplighter Court which is well worth anyone’s driving by for a gander — especially to take in a tradition that truly lights up the holidays and the streets of Marco.

“The lights of Christmas on Marco brighten everyone’s life,” said Dave Rice, house and business Christmas decorating contest chairman.

“Interest has grown annually and now the event has completed its 12th year and has become a Marco tradition.”

The judging route was planned and directed by Jeanne Rice and the Trolley’s use was donated by Raul Rodriguez. The judges traveled to the top 20 selected residences on Dec. 12th along with Eagle photographer Glen Walton and, after extensive discussions, the difficult decision was made.

“Any one of the top several homes could have been winners,” noted Committee Judge Donna Rohrbach. “But the blast of multi-colored lights and lawn decorations — including the roof — literally covered the entire Tamayo property in a tasteful and spirited manner.”

Preliminary judging was done on Dec. 8 and 9 by nine teams of judges with a total of 1,084 homes being considered.

Prior to the finals, the judges were treated to a tailgate party sponsored by Marine (Centennial) Bank which was hosted by Diana Aruta and her staff. During the final judging, the finalists received an invitation as guests of the committee at the awards party hosted by committee members Paul and Richard Robinson to be held at the Sanitasole on Jan. 29.

Each finalist will receive a plaque and house photo while each of the 19 runners up will receive a check for $100 presented by committee members Tricia Dorn of LCEC and Don Schleicher, LCEC Chief Financial Officer.

In addition to the house judging, the Business Decorating Contest Committee judged 94 individual businesses with Marco Walk at 599 South Barfield Dr. emerging as the Business Center winner. The committee was comprised of Debbie and Marty Roddy and Susan and Ken Kubat.

The 2008 Business winner is Kerry’s Cafe located at 121 South Barfield Dr. with owners Kerry Ann, Nancy, and Michael Fagan.

Contest rules state that winners are not eligible to win again for five years.

“Most former winners still continue to decorate their homes in grand fashion,” Rice added. “Photographs of the winners are kept on file and used in part to evaluate previous winners’ eligibility to win again. We encourage new ideas and themes from previous winners to be considered as repeat winners.”

Top 20 homes selected for the finals

780 Copeland

10 Acorn

201 Windbrook

548 North Barfield

1369 North Collier

749 North Barfield

1208 Fruitland

1232 Fruitland

425 North Collier

1211 Lamplighter

1274 Apricot

91 Bermuda

1842 Dogwood

1805 Dogwood

2000 Sheffield

900 Scott

1811 Dade

441 Yellowbird

930 Plum

393 South Barfield

Worth seeing

1299 Winterberry (Ineligible, previous winner)