Orme Family 'Deck the House' Contest Town Winners

Joe and Debbie Orme were the town winners in Patch's "Deck the House" photo contest of homes decorated for the holidays.

The Ormes, who live on Dayton Drive in Lake Parsippany, are among more than 300 town winners from around the country. A group of 24 national finalists will then be selected and awarded $500 to go toward their December electric bills. Following a national voting period, a grand prize winner will be announced and $100,000 will be awarded to the local public school district.

The Ormes' front yard is full of Christmas “inflatables,” most of which feature their favorite cartoon character, Snoopy,” unusual colored lights and new addition this year, lighted candy canes.

“We usually buy one new item every year,” Joe Orme said.

Since she was “a kid, I always loved Snoopy and Woodstock,” said Debbie Orme, who has been a member of the since 2006.

Her first Christmas Snoopy stays in the house, a gift from her husband 14 years ago when they were courting. Did that clinch the romance? It certainly didn’t hurt, they acknowledged.

They find their inflatables and other Christmas decorations online and scour stores like Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and Kmart for new lawn décor. They made it a tradition to get to Fountains of Wayne right after Christmas to see what the store had.

The large Christmas bulbs along the walkway were purchased there a few years ago and the Ormes have not been able to find replacements since it closed a couple of years ago.

“We really miss that store,” said Joe Orme, who is a salesman with Dingman’s Dairy.

Inside the Orme home, Christmas is everywhere. Besides the large tree, there are a lot of stockings on the mantle. This year, Debbie Orme needed two more but where to find them when she bought the others so long ago? She finally found them online and the owner threw in a couple more for future family additions. The latest two were for her son in-law and new grandson.

Although most of their children are adults, David, a senior at is still at home and said he enjoys all the Christmas flair, but leaves all the decorating up to his parents.

“I like the inflatables.” Most of his friends “always like it,“ when they come over and see all the lights.

The couple says there are no fights, just good times when they work on the decorations. “I do what she says,” he joked.