RESIDENTS PREPARE FOR HOLIDAY OF LIGHTS TOUR

Christmas decorations began going up this weekend at the Cape Girardeau home of Richard and Mary Jo Dirnberger.

They've been putting wreaths and candles in the windows, garland and lights around posts and a decorated tree on the front porch."We believe Christmas is the birthday of Jesus and he was the light of the world. We decorate in his memory and to celebrate his birth," Richard Dirnberger said.

The Dirnbergers are among the many families that decorate the outsides of their homes for the holidays. For the Dirnbergers, whose home was on the Cape Girardeau Holiday of Lights tour last year, decorating is a way to delight their grandkids, neighbors and those passing by."More and more people are decorating their homes every year," said Dave Vaughn, store manager at Hobby Lobby.

The Holiday of Lights decorating contest and tour is a way to show off those homes, said Gina Hagerty, who is helping with the event, which is sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Holiday of Lights contest judges the best home and business holiday displays in Cape Girardeau. Judging will be 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 6, when Hagerty said they hope everyone who has decorated by then will turn on their lights.

Once the winners have been selected, the Convention and Visitors Bureau will put together a map showing the winners and will sponsor a Holiday of Lights Bus Tour, which will be Dec. 17 and 18. Something you'll probably see a lot of on that tour is icicle lights. These strands, meant to go along the eaves of a house, have lights that dangle to resemble lighted icicles. Vaughn and Carl Mason, seasonal team lead at Target, agreed that for the second year in a row icicle lights are the hottest item in outside holiday decorations."People really love these," Mason said.

Also popular this year, Vaughn said, are net lights, small lights mounted on netting that can be arranged over shrubs and trees.

People like these for the convenience, Vaughn said. "It's a lot easier to arrange the netting than string 300 lights on a bush," he said.

Mason said people continue to buy lighted wire sculptures like deer and angels. New this year, he said, are projectors that project a lighted image on garage doors or outside walls.

People like traditional-looking decorations and the trend is toward white rather than colored lights, he said.

But Ken Oberlohr grew up with colored lights, and he still likes using them at his house and at his office, American Family Insurance."I like the colored lights because they look so bright and festive," said Oberlohr, who has continued the decorating tradition at the insurance office at 2256 Kingsway begun by former owner, the late Ken Voepel.

The front of the office features displays of elves in a workshop, a huge greeting card, large wooden suckers and big candy canes. There's also lights, lots of lights. Oberlohr estimates at least 1,000 strands of lights."Decorating is just a way to celebrate," Oberlohr said. "It's a way to show Christmas spirit.

HOLIDAY OF LIGHTS AT A GLANCEThe Holiday of Lights contest judges the best home and business holiday displays in Cape Girardeau. To enter, pick up an entry form at the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce, then have your house decorated and the lights on during the judging, from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 6. The contest is sponsored by the Beautification Committee of the Chamber of Commerce.

Once the winners have been selected, the Convention and Visitors Bureau will put together a map showing the winners and will sponsor a Holiday of Lights Bus Tour, which will be Dec. 17 and 18. Cost is $1 per person. Tickets are available at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, 100 Broadway. Call 335-1631 for more information.