Winners announced in Tarentum holiday window contest
Santa Claus sits in a chair, reading a magazine. Nearby is a Christmas tree adorned with bright bulbs and ornaments, along with colorfully wrapped presents underneath.
A string of lights frame the space, and snowflakes decorate the scene. Santa has a couch decorated with fluffy pillows to lounge on.
It’s a holiday scene created in the window of the Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio on Corbet Street in Tarentum. The design was chosen as first place in the Holiday Window Lighting Contest among local businesses in the borough sponsored by the Tarentum Recreation Board.
Entrants were announced Friday. Merle Norman will receive a $100 gift card. Cindy’s Soft Serve/Hometown located on E. 4th Ave. won a $75 gift card for second place. Dalmo Optical on Corbet Street came in third and will be given a $50 gift card.
“It is so important to the community to see the businesses dress up their windows for the Christmas season,” said Carrie Fox, president of the Tarentum Recreation Board. “It’s a real bright spot to someone’s day to see a beautifully decorated window. The Tarentum Recreation Board wants the businesses to know how vital they are to our community, so this is one way to involve them in a fun and meaningful contest.”
Suzi Fertig, whose daughter Olivia Grace owns the Merle Norman store, said the family loves being part of the Tarentum community.
“We are honored that we won,” said Grace. “We are happy to be a part of Tarentum.”
Fertig said the design came to life from combining holiday items they had with others they bought. There are big bows, red stockings and greenery adorning the window which embodies a comfortable space with a festive look.
Bringing some holiday joy to a year that has been a tough one for small businesses led Cindy and Bob Hatajik, owners of Cindy’s Soft Serve/Hometown, to participate.
They decorated a silver tree with ice-cream ornaments that look good enough to eat. There are also toilet paper gifts underneath the tree as a nod to a year when grocery stores ran short of the product.
“This is us,” said Bob Hatajik. “We love being part of this community. We need something to be festive and help put smiles on peoples’ faces as they walk by or drive by the window. We will do everything we can to help the people in this area. It’s about paying it forward. We need that in 2020.”
Emily Jones, an optician at Dalmo, agreed. She, optician Diane Beigay and office manager Shelly Clark worked on the design for Santa’s Workshop together. Dr. David Monroe, who captured a few photos of the front of the store one night, was all for it.
“It was a total team effort,” said Clark, who made the elves. “We all work well together. This is a close office.”
They decorated outside the business because they have limited window space. They had to wait until Thursday to install the display because of Wednesday’s snow storm.
“We had fun,” Jones said. “We all need a little joy in 2020.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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