Courtesy of Creede Elementary School Creede Elementary students and teachers spent the afternoon Thursday, Dec. 9, caroling throughout downtown Creede. Students ate cookies and drank hot chocolate. Creede has quickly transformed into a holiday wonderland thanks to the efforts of local businesses, the City of Creede and Mineral County 4-H. Courtesy of Sarah Efthim-Williamson The winners of the City of Creede Holiday Lighting Contest — Best Lights went to the Creede Hotel and Restaurant, Best Window Display went to Holy Moses and Most Creative Display went to Tompkins Hardware.

CREEDE — The City of Creede Holiday Light Contest concluded over the weekend and the results turned Creede into a holiday wonderland of sparkling, twinkling lights. The winners were announced on Sunday, Dec. 12.

The contest was the idea of Creede City Clerk Sarah Efthim-Williamson and the City of Creede provided monetary prizes. Efthim-Williamson called upon all businesses to dust off their holiday decorations and participate. 

During the contest, the local 4-H club also received a generous donation of lights from the City of Creede and spent Dec. 5 decorating Basham Park. Not only did Mineral County 4-H decorate, but they were the judges in the business lighting contest as well. 

Once the lights were strung and the decorations adorned businesses, Creede received some snow that added to the ambiance. To top it off, the Creede School District brought a group of students who wandered around downtown on Dec. 9. The students spent the afternoon was spent going from business to business singing holiday songs and receiving generous applause from people in town. The students also collected donations for their Giving Project that will go toward treatment or vaccines for Parvo Puppy Disease. 

There were three categories in the contest — Best Lights, Best Window Display and Most Creative. Each winner received a monetary prize donated by the City of Creede and a mention in the newspaper. Best Lights went to the Creede Hotel and Restaurant, Best Window Display went to Holy Moses and Most Creative Display went to Tompkins Hardware.

“We do this every year and this year there just so happened to be a contest which we really enjoyed. We want to especially thank the local 4-H club for judging the contest. We also want to remind everyone that we are doing our annual 12 Days of Christmas giveaway drawings every day from now until Christmas so be sure to come in and fill out the entry slip. We loved seeing Creede lit up this year, it was really great,” said Tompkins Hardware representative Delano Velasquez. 

Shelly Dee, owner of the Creede Hotel and Restaurant, was over the moon to see Creede light up for the holidays.

“We just went all out. In my mind, I think Creede is the most beautiful town around and with everyone participating this year, we really pulled off the holiday wonderland," Dee said. "We were so happy to participate and be able to be open this winter. We will be open until January 1 and then we will be shutting down until Memorial Day weekend so we can redo our kitchen. We look forward to this happening every year. Holiday decorations are important, and it brings the people here in our off-season. We can’t thank 4-H and the City of Creede enough for this opportunity.”