I have to say, no matter how you look at it, we had one heck of a contest! I’m not all that sophisticated when it comes to all this technology and how to use and abuse it, but I understand Larissa’s comment last night because it sure did seem like a whole lot of votes, suspiciously, came in last night for Neptune! The truth is, I really don’t know if there was cheating or not. I personally couldn’t figure out a way to circumnavigate this application…although I have no doubt that it’s possible. Here’s what I do know. Since Friday the blog had 2401 page loads, yesterday alone we had 820! Again, yesterday alone the blog had 431 unique visitors. That’s by far and away the largest number ever on the blog. With that many unique visitors to the blog the numbers on the contest could easily be accurate. I also know that a blog reader posted a link on facebook encouraging voting for Neptune and several people came through that site.

The Neptune story was actually a really great one too and these folks had plenty of supporters since they were under pressure from their HOA about having these lights at all. So I’m glad to announce that the winner of the 2008 Lights contest goes to Jeff and Kim at 747 Neptune. I also want to give heartfelt credit to the Wenzel  family at 515 Pitcairn for fighting the good fight! You guys did an amazing job as well with getting out the vote and my hat is off to you!! Great, great job!! Thanks also go to all the other participants in this contest. Every house was tremendous and it was a real pleasure to see the work you all put into this!

As for the drawing, each name for all who commented on the Lights posts were written down on paper and put into a hat, and from which a winner was drawn by none other than my wife Lesley. The winner is…Patricia Chu of, where else, Foster City! Patricia was one of 114 entries into a pretty big hat! (actually a big pot) She beat the odds, particularly against young Julie Olsen, the Edgewater house fan, who had 39 entries, (I only published 10 of her comments). Sorry Julie, but please try again next year!

Thanks again to all who played and participated this month!!! Congratulations to the winners!! Have a Happy and Safe New Years!

Trinidad	Neptune	Catamaran
Drake	Pitcairn	Windjammer
Edgewater

Well, here it is! Your chance to vote for the best Christmas Lights in Foster City. For closer inspection click on the thumbnails above for a larger view…or click on this link to see the full posts on each house. 

http://fostercityblog.com/category/christmas-lights-in-foster-city/

By the way, it’s one vote per computor. Any and all comments made here, or on any of the other posts will enter you into a seperate drawing to be held on Wednesday for a $100.00 gift certificate to Turtle Bay Restaurant. All the rules of this contest are availble to view on the bar above. The owner and creator of the best lights display will recieve one too.  All of them are really great and all of these families deserve congratulations! Voting will end Tuesday night at Midnight. Thanks for playing!!

Last, but certainly not least, is the final entry in the 2008 Lights contest! It’s a really good one too! This house is located at 515 Pitcairn and is the product of the Wenzel family. It’s another classic of the form and has been among other showplace houses in the Bay Area in the past on other websites touting well done Christmas lights. Lot’s of lights and even more inflatable contraptions that pretty much fill up the front yard. It’s really great!

Don’t forget, voting takes place beginning on Friday. All the rules of this contest are available to view on the bar above. There will be 2 gift certificates of $100.00 each given out, 1 to the winner of a drawing that will be done on New Years Eve that you can be eligible for simply by making a comment or by asking me a question in the “Ask Me” link on the right margin. The other gift certificate goes to the best house as voted on by you! Have fun…and have a great day tomorrow!

OK, we’re in the home stretch! Voting is coming on Friday…so get ready to rumble! Today’s entry is located at 503 Drake Ct and is the product of the Brannon family. The Brannon’s have a front yard made up pretty much entirely of small white stones…so it appears to be snow all the lights and decorations are sitting on. All those bluish lights are very cool too and add a different flavor to the display that works really well with the white stones.

Remember, any and all comments made on this, or any other “Lights” post enters you into the drawing for $100.00 gift certificate to Turtle Bay Restaurant. All the rules of this game are available to read on the bar above too. You can win…the creator of the lights can win too! One final entry is coming on Wednesday…and it’s a good one too! Thanks and have a great week!

 This house is also way, way up there on my list! It’s really an achievement, it’s located at 1052 Windjammer and it’s the product of the Yamauchi family. Check out all of this detail…all those small, lit Frosty’s and Santa’s between the Candy Canes along the front yard boundary. How about the walking Santa on the wall up front! Like I said…this place has details galore! The truth is that we couldn’t get a well lit photo of the whole structure so this shot is missing more great gizmos on the roof over the main body of the house. The Yamauchis have really outdone themselves here folks…this is really must see viewing!

If you’re new to this contest, please check out the rules on the bar above. Voting is coming up the day after Christmas…the 26th. Don’t forget, any comment left on any one of the “Lights” posts qualifies you for a drawing held on New Years Eve for $100.00 gift certificate to Turtle Bay Restaurant in the Metro Center. Keep those comments coming…and any question asked on that “Ask Me” link on the right hand margin enters you in the drawing too. Good luck and have a great weekend!

OK, here’s the link to more detail:  BigWindjammer

So…this is beginning to get interesting! There sure were alot of folks supporting the McCarty/Kempton light show on Neptune the other day. Well now we have another very worthy selection, and this one is a whole lot easier to casually view as well! It’s the house at 1098 Edgewater , just down the street from the Edgewater Place shopping center. It’s the product of the Collado family, and as you can see, it’s fabulous in that old school sort of way. No inflatable stuff, just a ton of small lights…some of which are on the inside of the house and visible through some rather large windows. This is a very strong contender too and is certainly not to be missed!

It’s worth noting that the first two entries in this contest have added to, and upgraded, their presentations since we began. I may just have to re-shoot those houses before the final voting begins as a result! The pressure is mounting and the contestants seem to be getting more and more serious!

Remember, each and every comment placed on any of the “lights” posts enters you into the eventual drawing for a $100.00 gift certificate to Turtle Bay Restaurant…so feel free to engage your friends and family to participate. All the rules of this contest are available on the bar above, but there will alos be a second $100.00 gift certificate that will be awarded to whoever is voted best lights display in Foster City out of the 7 total contestants. Voting will begin the day after Christmas…the 26th and will last until New Years Eve.