“Paint the Borough Red, White and Blue” contest honors veterans from home

A town in New Jersey is honoring veterans through red, white, and blue decor in lieu of yearly ceremonies. 

Matawan, New Jersey typically holds Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day parades and ceremonies but because of Coronavirus, the future of these celebrations are uncertain. Instead of simply giving up the opportunity to honor American veterans, the town is hosting a home-decorating contest called “Paint the Borough Red, White and Blue,” encouraging veterans to decorate the outside of their homes in a patriotic fashion, honoring veterans, for a chance to win prizes. 

The contest will run through July 4thand will be judged weekly by representatives of the Matawan Historical Society and the Matawan Recreation Department. Winners will receive $50 visa gift cards. 

“In an effort to preserve the tradition of honoring our veterans, we thought it would be a good idea to encourage our community to show their patriotic support through their creativity and safety of their homes,” said Borough Councilwoman Stephanie Buckel to Central Jersey News.

“We created the ‘Paint the Borough Red, White and Blue’ contest so our community members could still celebrate and honor our veterans and first responders by decorating their homes in red, white and blue.”

Each judge will be given a list of homes on Fridays and visit them before rating them. 

“We take photos and notes of what we liked and what we thought were special touches. On the following Monday, we discuss our comments and vote for our winner,” she said.

“Our first winners, Shelly and Mike Minutillo, had special touches that we as a committee appreciated, especially the details to the overall aesthetic, in particular the red, white and blue flowers, patriotic embroidered pillows on the rocking chairs and bunting on the porch,” Buckel said.

To register a house for Matawan’s “Paint the Borough Red, White and Blue” contest, residents may send an email to [email protected]