Jerry’s Occoquan Jewelers wins decorating contest

By ELISA GLUSHEFSKI - For the News & Messenger
Published: November 27, 2008

The Occoquan Business Guild helped usher in the holiday season for the town with a good, old-fashioned competition.

The contest: Come up with the best decorated storefront.

With its Williamsburg-inspired look, Jerry’s Occoquan Jewelers took home a first-place win and a ribbon to mark the victory.

Framing the store’s two showcase windows are fresh greens woven together with white lights twinkling throughout. And hanging on either side of the brick building are strings of pineapples and mango leaves. They also appear above the door in a “fruit fan,” which includes apples, oranges and holly berries.

Brenda Monn, who has owned the jewelry store with business partner Patti Lyons since 2003, said the jewelry store has gone with the fresh fruit and greens design for more than two decades to incorporate a style that a town merchant, who passed away some years ago, helped introduce to the other store owners.

“Each year it grows and changes a bit,” Monn said of the décor. “It’s kind of a Christmas tradition for us.”

In all, it took four days and the help of Monn’s mother to decorate the storefront.

The most time-consuming part of the decorating was weaving the greens with the rope to hang outside, something Monn said her mother took the lead on.

All the merchants in the small hamlet along the banks of the Occoquan River were invited to participate, said LaVerne Carson, owner of The Golden Goose and president of the Occoquan Business Guild, which sponsored the competition.

“It’s good for the town that everyone does something for Christmas time,” Carson said, adding that it’s a good way to get the town looking “sharp” for the season.

The guidelines were kept pretty simple: It had to be in keeping with the overall look and style of the town; both live and nice-looking artificial greenery were allowed; and it was suggested that the decorations be best for daytime viewing since that’s when the shops are open, Carson said.

The deadline for the competition was the morning of Nov. 21. That same day, two judges walked through the shopping district to evaluate each window before rendering their decision, Carson said. The judges had no connection to Occoquan to ensure the judging was fair, she added.

Taking second place was PolkaDot Diva’s with a bubbly design filled with metallics and vibrant pinks, greens and blues.

“We wanted to blend in with what was down there, but we also wanted to be true to ourselves,” said Julie Marshall, who opened the store with Montclair resident Kristyn Gleason in August. “We kind of have a unique take on everything and we like to be a little different.”

Although Marshall lives in Hampton and Gleason did much of the decorating, the effort was still a collaborative one between the business partners and an outside designer and friend, Marshall said.
“When we found out we got second place, we were very, very, very excited,” Marshall said. “We pretty much jumped up and down.”

First place received a $200 cash award and second place received $100 cash, Carson said.

Carson said there were four honorable mentions: Details by Ursula, The Blue Arbor Café, Elements and Creative Touch Nail Salon.