As a kid in Hamilton, I remember our family's annual night drive through the neighborhood, looking at the various Christmas lawn displays. There would be "ooohs" and "aaahs" at the lawns that were particularly memorable, religious or funny. And, in the back of our minds, we were comparing them to our very own display on North 2nd Street.

When you have a good display, you want people to see it. And the Hamilton City Council wants to say "thank you" with a fun little Community Christmas Decorating Contest. The deadline for entries is Friday, December 17. You need to fill out an official entry form online at Hamilton's website or drop by City Hall on South 2nd Street and grab an entry form just inside the front doors, fill it out and drop it in the box there. Oh, and another thing, you can nominate yourself or your neighbor! Just make sure you have the right address on the entry form. The display has to be inside the Hamilton city limits to qualify.

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The city council will be heading out between December 17 and December 20 to see the creations, and will vote and announce the winners at the December 21st council meeting. There will be winner for each of the three Wards and an overall citywide winner. Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf said the winners will get official notifications and the winners will be announced in the media. No cash prizes, just the honor of winning.

christmas porch
Nice lights on the south end of town. (Steve Fullerton, Townsquare Media)
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As we've said before, get your "Griswold" on (referring to the fun National Lampoon Christmas movie) and get the whole family involved in making your decorations. We'll be announcing the winners on KLYQ. By the way, our sister stations in Missoula are having their own contest, opening it up to a wide area of Western Montana. Here's the information on that contest.

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