Hi, my name is Rob Merker. I work for Riverhead Building Supply at the 1093 Pulaski Street yard. READ
Tag: Riverhead Building Supply
A life-sized Santa Claus climbing a ladder near a front door. An antique manger decorated with vintage multi-colored bulbs. A Christmas village with a decades-old Lionel train set running through it.
These are just a few of the sights we saw on our first Deck the Halls holiday decorating contest last year, during which we visited more than 30 of the best-decorated homes on the North Fork. This time, we hope to see even more holiday spirit as we bring the contest back for a second season. READ
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Courtesy photo: Riverhead Building Supply
Jesse Goodale. (Credit: Goodale family courtesy photo)
A giant in the Riverhead community has passed away.
Jesse R. Goodale II, who founded Riverhead Building Supply along with his brother, Harold, and uncle, Peter Ketcham, on Ostrander Avenue in 1948, died Saturday morning at the age of 97.
Picture an entire street decorated as a winter wonderland. Now imagine dozens of them.
This was something I witnessed as an editor at a local newspaper in Santa Clarita, Calif., where the paper hosted an annual Holiday Lights Tour. Individual houses and streets would be evaluated each year by a team of judges from the newspaper staff. We’d determine which were the best, award them prizes and publish a list of the top holiday houses in the valley so our readers could go see them firsthand.
The contest eventually grew so large that the judges were all chauffeured in a limousine, touring the houses for more than eight hours. We’d be greeted with bribes — we actually gave out a prize for best bribe — of food, drinks and trinkets from the contestants. I still have the Homer Simpson-talking Santa figure a producer on “The Simpsons” gave me in hopes I’d choose his house. Though I ultimately voted for the house that fed us the killer tortilla soup.
For the past several winters, we’ve toyed with the idea of bringing such a contest to the North Fork and encouraging each of our readers to find their inner Clark Griswold as we seek to identify the best-decorated house.
This year we’re giving it a try.
We’re going to start out small, by picking one winning house and a handful of honorable mentions.
To participate, you’ll need to fill out the form in the ‘At Home’ section of this week’s paper or email us ([email protected]) the relevant information.
You will also need to be home on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 14, when our judges will make the rounds to decide which home is the best decorated. We will call all contestants several days before our visit to let you know an approximate time we’ll stop by.
We will judge your home based on style and taste, the difficulty of setting up the decorations and the uniqueness of your display.
We will consider interiors, exteriors or both.
The winning houses will be featured on our real estate page in the Dec. 18 issue, and the grand winner will get the perfect gift for homeowners who want to improve their houses even more for next year’s contest: a $1,000 gift certificate to Riverhead Building Supply.
Do you think you have the best-decorated house on the North Fork? Prove it.
Photos credits: Katharine Schroeder