Longboaters Light Up the Key

Longboat Key is never in short supply of festivity, and choosing just five properties as our winners of the Light Up the Key competition proved challenging. These five, however, stood out for different reasons and truly do make the Key a brighter place.

Our winners will receive a tray of holiday cookies and wine or Champagne from Harry’s Continental Kitchens.

Most Festive: Seaplace

1900 and 2000 blocks of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Seaplace has never shied away from bright and colorful decorations.

“People say they can see it from the space shuttle,” General Manager Bill Deskus said. “It’s a lot of lights, but we try to do something every year that stands out and is a little special.”

Director of Operations Wendy Cichowski was the mastermind behind the display, which took Seaplace staff four days to finish decorating. The property always takes full advantage of its two entrances on Gulf of Mexico Drive, and this year, the association honored Christmas on one side and Hanukkah on the other.

“We just had a couple comments from people how it would be nice to have something for the Jewish folks, and we thought it would be nice to dedicate one side each to the holidays,” Deskus said.

Most Florida: Beachplace

1000 and 1100 blocks of Gulf of Mexico Drive

How does Santa Claus like to spend his day off? Fishing at Beachplace, of course.

The centerpiece of the property’s holiday decorations this year is a light-up fishing Santa.

“I looked online, and I saw the Santa, and I thought it was perfect for here,” Pool Manager Tina Kolesa said. “He’s fishing at the beach. It’s really cute.”

This year, Kolesa single-handedly decorated the property’s entrance, and it took her a week. She used some of the same lights and decorations from previous years, although she tries to change it a little each year.

 “It’s fun, and the owners get enjoyment out of it," she said. "They’re like family, so it’s like I’m decorating my own home.”

Most Traditional: Sutton Place

4300 Gulf of Mexico Drive

While most other holiday decorations stand out for their splashes of color and masses of lights, Sutton Place makes our list for its elegant simplicity. Driving down Gulf of Mexico Drive, you can see two picturesque trumpeting angels in front of shooting stars.

“Every year, we try to expand,” said Gabriel Hernandez, president of Longboat Management Corp. “We monitor very closely the competition on the island, and every year we try to do a little bit better.”

The maintenance staff of Sutton Place spent two days setting up decorations.

“They take a lot of time putting up decorations in the front and around the property,” Hernandez said. “We try to make it as festive as possible.”

Most Entertaining: Byler Residence

750 St. Judes Drive N.

Good luck driving down St. Judes Drive N. without all your attention being drawn toward the home of Phil, Cathy, Philip, Josh and Ryan Byler. Their front yard is filled with blow-up figures and other colorful decorations.

“We used to have a huge house in DeSoto Acres that we decorated every year,” Cathy Byler said. “We still decorate our house every year, and doing this is a special thing for Phil.”

The tradition started when Cathy and Phil Byer’s three sons, now 23, 18 and 10, were younger.

“It’s really cool being recognized after all these years,” Cathy Byer said. “It’s just happy. Phil just does it with love, and being recognized will mean a lot to him after doing this year after year.”

Most Unique: Rogers Residence

655 Tarawitt Drive

Ed and Pam Rogers were all finished decorating their house this year when they decided to add more.

“We did a little test run, and I didn’t feel like it was enough,” Pam Rogers said. “I had to go out shopping and I found those big lights that sit in front of the tree. I added that, and it was perfect.”

This is the first year the Rogerses have decorated their home since 2012.

“We used to do it every year, but I took the past two years off,” Pam Rogers said. “It started with regular lights, but I tried to top it every year. It’s become this, and everybody enjoys it when they come and go on our street. We’re the only one on the street who did decorations like this.”