Last Year's Winners
It is once again the season for the Port Aransas Garden Club Farley Boat Lighting Contest. The Farley Boat concept was set into motion 20 years ago and is unique to Port Aransas. This will be our 5th annual year for the Farley Boat Lighting Contest. Last year close to $5000.00 was raised for the EMS Toy Roundup. As in previous years, the Port Aransas Garden Club (PAGC) is joined by Port Aransas Tourism Bureau & Chamber of Commerce and Port Aransas Parks & Recreation Department. Karen Bentley and Virginia Moser Port Aransas Garden Club chairpersons commented, “the Garden Club is very excited to sponsor the lighting contest again this year.” This charitable event is for the month of December with voting starting Saturday December 7th and ending Sunday December 15th.
To enter, forms will be available online at portaransasgardenclub.org (see below), portaransas.org and cityofportaransas.org , and will be available for pickup at the South Jetty newspaper 1726 TX-361 Suite A1, Port Aransas Tourism Bureau & Chamber of Commerce 403 W. Cotter Ave, and Parks and Rec 106 Cut-Off Road offices. There is no entry fee. Once you have filled out your entry form, email it back to ronandvirginia@icloud.com by Tuesday December 3. December 3 is also the last date to send your photo in. If you need, we can come out and take a picture. If you don’t have a boat of your own Parks & Rec have four Farley Boats available for adoption at the harbor. Contact Kristie Stevens, Parks & Recreation at 361-749-4158 or kstevens@cityof[portaransas.org to obtain one and then send in your form. By filling out and signing the Farley Boat Lighting Contest form, you give permission for the PAGC to use your name and address on a map for residents and visitors when viewing your decorated Farley Boat from the street and for that information to be included in the virtual tour on Port Aransas Garden Club Facebook page and on portaransasgardenclub.org website.
Any Merchants, Businesses, Residents, Clubs, RVs, Condos and Churches may sign up. Fill out the Farley Boat Lighting Contest Entry Form and email it to ronandvirginia@icloud.com. Forms are available by printing them from this website or you can pick-up a form at the Chamber, Parks and Recreation or the South Jetty offices. Email the form back or drop filled out forms at any of the above locations to get enrolled and become part of an exciting holiday community experience. The entry form is also online at portaransas.org and cityofportaransas.org. No entry fee required. Rules and judging criteria are printed on the entry form. So, sign up, make it a neighborhood project, decorate one of the city’s or one belonging to someone unable to decorate.
The judging will be done by a panel of 4 judges between December 7-15. There will be four categories for the contest—Residential; Businesses; Condo’s, RV Parks, Organizations & Churches, and People’s Choice. Boats will be judge by the following criteria—Originality/Creative, Overall Presentation, and Attractive Use of Lights and Colors. All four categories have a first place $100.00 prize and a $50.00 second place prize. The Business is sponsored by Barron Design; RV, Condo, Organizations and Churches is sponsored by New Wave Vacation Rentals; People’s Choice is sponsored by the Port Aransas Tourism Bureau & Chamber of Commerce, and the Residential is sponsored by the Port Aransas Garden Club. The winners for Residential, Business and RV/Condo/Organizations are determined by our panel of judges. The People’s Choice is determined by votes from the community and all monies raised by votes will be given to the Port Aransas Toy Roundup. The winners will be announced in the South Jetty Christmas edition.
A tour map will be available for everyone to use to view the boats. Voting will start on December 1 online and at various places around town. Votes are $1 each, 6 for $5 or 15 for $10. Join us in making this a fun event and enriching our Holiday Season and the EMS Toy Round Up Campaign. Check our Port Aransas Garden Club Facebook page to stay in the know.