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Festive fun: Tyrone decorating contest turns parking meters into works of art

By Rachel Foor 4 min read

TYRONE -- An unsuspecting teenager found out the hard way earlier this month just how creative Tyrone business owners and residents can be.

"Santa Bob" the construction worker covers a parking meter, which the teen found out to his detriment when he tried to tackle the decoration, said Hannah Mentzer and Samantha Warner of Power House Subs, who saw the teen's attempt to take down Bob on security cam footage.

The construction worker is just one of dozens of festively decorated parking meters scattered throughout downtown Tyrone to bring extra holiday cheer to residents and visitors -- and to showcase free parking along the streets during the Christmas season.

The decorations are also part of a light-hearted competition meant to bring the community together and spread joy, organizers said. Some of the displays include Ralphie's pink bunny costume in "A Christmas Story," a snowman made out of painted tires and a gnome reading a book on Tyrone history outside the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library.

The contest was free to enter, said borough employee Kim Larosa. Those who wanted to participate had only to call the borough office and be assigned a meter.

The competition kicked off the week of Thanksgiving, and winners were announced Dec. 3.

According to Larosa, there were between 35 and 40 meters assigned to be decorated, with some businesses taking on unassigned meters.

Winners were determined by votes -- using paper ballots, people could walk around the downtown area, check out the decorations and vote on their favorites. Online voting was also held on the borough's Facebook page, where photos of each decorated meter are posted, Larosa said. Paper ballots were to be dropped off at City Hotel Park and all votes were due by Dec. 2.

Officials said they were thrilled with the outpouring of support and plan to have a similar contest next year.

"We were kind of really surprised at the amount of people who were interested," Larosa said.

Mentzer and Warner, district manager and manager, respectively, at Power House Subs, came up with the idea for their construction worker after spending a summer dealing with constant construction outside the restaurant.

"They were doing construction out front all summer and kept taking up our parking spots, which was a pain, so we wanted to make a joke out of it," Mentzer said.

Warner assembled the worker -- affectionately dubbed "Santa Bob" -- out of material from a local craft store and a pair of her husband's jeans, which had to be wired up to prevent them from falling down.

"We've had people stop there because they think it's an actual person flagging," Warner said with a laugh.

Santa Bob netted the duo a second-place finish in the competition, behind the Star-Lite Twirlers entry of a Merry Grinchmas display. Third place went to Dance Fusion, which decorated a meter as a dancer.

The top three won gift cards and chocolates provided by Staff Management, Larosa said.

The Power House Subs duo said they plan to participate in next year's competition and try for first place.

"It was something fun to do and we wanted to step outside the box," Warner said.

Mentzer and Warner aren't the only ones already planning and looking forward to next year.

Kristin Barrett, the store manager at Gardener's Candies in Tyrone, thought decorating the meters was a cute idea to make the town more festive. She decided to transform the meter outside the store into a red truck carrying candy and a Christmas tree, since Gardener's delivery trucks are red.

"Next year we'll come up with something different," Barrett said. "When I started seeing the pictures from this year, I was like, 'wow!'"

According to Kim Gurekovich, Tyrone Borough's administrative assistant, the inspiration for decorating the parking meters came from Bedford decorating meters for Breast Cancer Awareness Month several years ago.

Gurekovich said she thought it was a great idea and brought it back to Tyrone's Parks and Recreation Committee.

Since everyone was stuck inside for the majority of last year, officials thought it would be great to begin what they hope will become a tradition in years to come, Gurekovich said.

"It was so well received, everyone seemed to love it," Gurekovich said. "We had families, church groups, dance groups and civic groups all participate."

"People really put a lot of thought into their decorations," she said.

Area residents are urged to take a look at this year's decorations and get ready for next year, since officials have received "nothing but positive feedback from it," Gurekovich said.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.

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