For many, a treasured holiday tradition is to venture out and view elaborately lit homes. The question is, where to find them? To help connect the residents who decorate their exteriors with those who love to view them, The Herald Weekly publishes a list of many of the best-lit homes in Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson.

We call it our “Tour of De-Lights,” and if you’ve created an extensive light display at your house this year, we invite you to be one of the homes on our 2010 tour.
Simply send an e-mail to jones.jrj@gmail.com with your name, address(es) and phone number. Entries will be accepted now through Friday, Dec. 10, at noon.

If you’re one of several homes on a street or cul-de-sac that decorates en masse, be sure to enter our “Lighted Alliance” category (formerly known as “Griswold Groupings,”) which has produced memorable lighted mini-villages like last year’s Locust Grove Lane in Cedarfield, Alden Lane and Higgins Court in Shepherds Vineyard and Lavenham Road in NorthStone.

Judging will take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Dec. 10-12, between 6 and10 p.m., so be sure your light display is blazing in full glory those nights.

Just so folks will know what to expect, homes will be listed with a 1 to 5 bulb rating that includes five degrees of brilliance.

We’ll publish addresses and bulb ratings as determined by a group of outdoor-light lovers led by Randy “Snow Globe” Jones, a Huntersville resident and longtime lighting aficionado who’s in his sixth consecutive year volunteering with the tour.

Jones got involved after winning The Herald’s “Christmas Lighting Contest” in 2004. The Tour of De-Lights was introduced the following year.

Results and a listing of homes will appear in our Dec. 17 issue, just in time for readers to load up the car and venture out to enjoy one of the season’s “de-lightful” traditions.