Deck the House Winner Declared

The Powell family of Davis, CA, was technically the winner of the Deck the House contest. But since the prize is $100,000 to Davis schools, teacher Kristy Powell doesn't quite see it that way.

“We all won,” she said. “There are a lot of needs at the schools. This is not going to fix it all, but it will help. This is a blessing.”

Powell entered her home in Patch's national Deck the House contest during the holidays and was selected as one of the top 24 finalists in late December.

Marla Rocklin Jansen, who submitted a photo of her home's lighted menorah, was the sole entrant and local winner for Berkley Patch. Thank you to Jansen and the , which helped promote the contest via the Berkley Beat newsletter!

However, Davis jumped out to a massive lead the moment voting opened up, thanks to support from the and constant effort by the community, both online and on the streets. Powell even had her kids and some of their friends hand out hundreds of fliers downtown. 

Now that the contest is over and the Powell home has won, the family has begun to take down their lights. Excitement has consumed Kristy's Facebook wall as well as her home on Candy Cane Court. 

“Neighbors came over with a bottle of Champagne,” Kristy Powell said. “And another family from Wildhorse just came over and said ‘Surprise!’ We had never met them.”

Superintendent Winfred Roberson, who later stopped by the Powells’ house to give a personal thanks. The families know each other through church.

"This is symbolic of the Davis community, their commitment to education," Roberson told me. "It just symbolizes how strong this community is."

Roberson also asked the Powells how they’d like to see the money spent, to which they said they trust the district's decision. Still, in a community where education carries such weight, the topic will surely come up again once the money is delivered, which will likely be in a few weeks.