The Hassett family at 1534 De Pauw won the 2012 Fourth of July Home Decorating Contest, sponsored by realtor Joan Sather of Sothebys International Realty. Jim, Jackie, Jack and Kate Hassett faced competition from more than 30 homes in the Alphabet Streets, Huntington Palisades and Via de la Paz bluffs neighborhoods. Ultimately, they received the grand prize of a two-foot patriotic ribbon, a flag that was flown over the nation’s Capitol, a photo of their home in the Palisadian-Post and bragging rights. After viewing the homes on July 3 at 6 p.m., four judges awarded second place to the Jim and Vickie Mercer home on 833 Toyopa, narrowly beating the Pack family home at 15102 Bestor, which was one of 12 given honorable mention. ‘We’re so excited,’ said Jackie Hassett, who has lived here with her husband for 10 years. ‘Last year we received honorable mention.’ ‘It’s our favorite day,’ said Kate, 8, who earlier in the day had run in the Will Rogers 5K race with her brother and mom. ‘We decorate every year on the Fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas,’ Jackie added. The Hassetts bought some decorations online, including a re-creation of the 13-colony flag, which draped both sides of the front door. The house and gate were decorated with bunting, small and large American flags, red and blue weaved into a door wreath, and paper bags (red, white and blue) that contained battery-operated candles and lined the semicircular driveway. New to the decorations this year were large red-and-blue shiny stars hung from a front-yard tree that danced in the breeze. ‘The stars may have pushed us over to the top,’ Jackie said. Jim, who works as an investment manager for Athene Asset Management and also coaches his son’s PPBA All-Star baseball team, admitted, ‘I had nothing to do with the decorations.’ Jack, 10, plays shortstop and pitches, and the children attend Calvary Christian. The Mercers on Toyopa placed second in 2008 and 2011, and won the contest in 2010 (there was no contest in 2009). They entered as a lark the first year because dad Jim and son Sam were home alone and at the last minute ran to Party Pizzazz on Sunset, purchased ‘anything that seemed patriotic and put it up.’ (Mom and children Nick, Andrew, Katie and Molly were out of town.) They placed second behind the Hoffman family (residents on Via de la Paz) and have tried to improve on decorations ever since. This year, they added two fireworks paintings designed by Lindsay Stair at Black Ink. ‘We thought it would be enough to help us recapture first,’ Jim said. On July 4, Molly, a mechanical engineering student at George Washington University, admitted that they drove by the Hassett house the night before while viewing their competition. ‘It was nice,’ she said. As Vickie Mercer prepared for 50 guests that afternoon, she had help from daughter Katie, a lawyer for O’Melveny & Myers, and her husband, Jorge Fernandez, a lawyer for NBC Universal. The Mercer family is already contemplating ways to recapture first in 2013. ‘Maybe we’ll have Bruce Springsteen play on the lawn,’ Sam joked. ‘It was a tough competition and very difficult to judge,’ said realtor Sather, a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades. ‘There were more homes decorated this year and there were some streets were there seemed to be a neighborhood effort, like Kagawa and Toyopa. ‘We look at total appearance and patriotic expression in making the final decision,’ Sather said. ‘I also look to see if it’s tasteful,’ said judge and Chamber of Commerce executive director Arnie Wishnik. ‘I’m looking for effort,’ said Rob Weber, a member of PAPA, the parade organizing committee. ‘I appreciate the work.’ ‘It’s such a special day in the Palisades and it’s wonderful to see it represented by homes decorated,’ Sather said. ‘A huge shout-out to Toyopa,’ said Weber. ‘Almost every other house had a flag or some sort of decoration.’ Weber is also looking for ways to expand the contest next year to other Palisades areas like the Highlands and Castellammare. Currently, judges drive around the neighborhoods in a golf cart, viewing houses that are decorated by the deadline announced in the Post and at palisadesparade.org. ‘Maybe they could take a photo and submit it,’ Weber said. ‘I’m still trying to figure out how we could do it. Maybe we could also have flag banners on the light poles along Sunset a month ahead of time. It could inspire people.’ Other houses receiving honorable mention, a certificate and a calendar mouse pad from Sather were: 752 Radcliffe, 676 Via de la Paz, 1129 Kagawa, 440, 601 and 827 Toyopa, 14901 La Cumbre, 401 and 760 Ocampo, 14814 Sunset and 764 Alma Real.
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