December 19, 2015
South Burnett Regional Council has announced the winners of the Hancock Prospecting South Burnett Christmas Lights competition.
Frank Honey, from Nanango, was judged South Burnett champion for his walk-through display in the garden of his house at 45 South Street, Nanango.
He has won a trip to Singapore for two adults and two children (up to 12 years) including return economy, full-service flights from Brisbane to Singapore, courtesy of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
The trip includes five nights’ accommodation at the Shangri La Hotel in a tower wing, deluxe room, with breakfast daily. Return private transfers between Singapore Airport and the Shangri La Hotel, High Tea at Raffles, and comprehensive travel insurance are included. The holiday is worth an estimated $15,000.
South Burnett runner-up is Christine Collett, for the display on her property at 1330 Boondooma Road, Proston.
She has also won a trip to Singapore for two adults and two children (up to 12 years).
This trip also includes flights, transfers, Raffles High Tea and travel insurance, with five nights’ accommodation at the Traders Hotel, in a superior room, with breakfast daily. The holiday is valued at an estimated $10,000.
Other category winners have been awarded cash prizes: South Burnett Business Champion $1000, Business Runner-Up $500; Town winners and Regional winners $500, Town and Regional runners-up $300.
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Town & Rural Winners / Runners-Up
| Name | Address | Category |
| Diane Bosel | 1 Wills Street, Nanango | Winner Nanango Urban |
| Allan & Rosemary Strunge | 10 Grey Street, Nanango | Runner-Up Nanango Urban |
| Ken & Dianne Lawes | 102 Muir Road, Nanango | Winner Nanango Rural |
| Cheryl Ashdown | 106 Lanigan Road, Nanango | Runner-Up Nanango Rural |
| Monica Dennis | Cnr Jefferies & Nutt Street, Murgon | Winner Murgon Urban |
| Geddes Family | 5 Nutt Street, Murgon | Runner-Up Murgon Urban |
| Wayne & Louise Thomas | 298 Louttits Road, Murgon | Winner Murgon Rural |
| McUtchen Family | 592 Morgans Road, Murgon | Runner-Up Murgon Rural |
| Andrew & Renita Olsen | 119 Pring Street, Wondai | Winner Wondai Urban |
| Krystle Walters & Liam Baker | 52 Pring Street, Wondai | Runner-Up Wondai Urban |
| Dwayne & Michelle Barlett-Kennedy |
30 Amaroo Drive, Wondai | Winner Wondai Rural |
| Keith McConnell | 343 K. Duff Road, Wondai | Runner-Up Wondai Rural |
| Geoff & Veronnica Hartwig | 97 Ivy Street, Kingaroy | Winner Kingaroy Urban |
| Lisa Coutts | 11 Venman Street, Kingaroy | Runner-Up Kingaroy Urban |
| Tony Wilson | 43 Benair Drive, Kingaroy | Winner Kingaroy Rural |
| Paul & Kristine Winter | 25 Winters Road, Kingaroy | Runner-Up Kingaroy Rural |
| The Cavanough Family | 6 Douglas Street, Blackbutt | Winner Blackbutt Urban |
| Wingfield Family | 18 Douglas Street, Blackbutt | Runner-Up Blackbutt Urban |
| Clinton & Brenda Stretton | 23 Bowman Road, Blackbutt | Winner Blackbutt Rural |
| Hillview Kidz Family Day Care | 3 Daisy Court, Kingaroy | Winner South Burnett Business |
| Nanango Taxi & Delivery | 12 Greenwood Creek Road, Nanango | Runner-Up South Burnett Business |
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by Bronwyn Marquardt
Grand champions Frank Honey and Lesley Orenda have been entertaining residents and visitors for years with their Christmas Lights displays, and they say giggles and smiles of children were the only thanks they needed.
So when Mayor Wayne Kratzmann presented them with the prize for South Burnett Champion, the pair was momentarily lost for words.
“I got tears, Frank got tears, but he wasn’t game to let them out because he didn’t think they would ever stop,” Lesley said.
“It was really great. We couldn’t believe it.”
Frank, a father of five, and Lesley, a mum of four, whose adult children live away from home, moved to Nanango about six years ago.
They fell in love after Frank drove from Western Australia to Brisbane to comfort Lesley following the death of her husband.
“There was something about Nanango. It’s a nice place to live, and this house came on the market. We walked into the kitchen here, and there were butterflies on the tiles. I have a thing for butterflies and I said: ‘This is our house’,” Lesley said.
Each October, Frank begins the painstaking task of setting up his Christmas lights display, which he already did as a hobby in Western Australia.
“It’s Frank’s thing really, I just supervise,” Lesley said.
“I had the Christmas spirit knocked out of me after my husband died, but Frank and the people who visit the lights are helping to bring it back.
“He doesn’t do it for prizes. He does it every year to see the smiles on the faces of people and to hear the giggles. It’s like a playground outside.”
On the night Mayor Kratzmann surprised the couple with the good news, Lesley had been on her hands and knees cutting grass with scissors to ensure the lights looked their best.
“We’ve already been through two mowers keeping the lawn cut nice and short so people can walk through the display, but if you get too close you cut the cords,” she said.
“So I was bent over cutting the grass with scissors so everything would look nice, and we were hoping it wouldn’t rain.”
She was inside when Frank called out to let her know that she was needed outside.
There, she found Mayor Kratzmann and Council’s Senior Officer Community and Sport Michael Hunter waiting with a certificate, champagne, and details of their prize – a family trip to Singapore donated by Christmas Lights sponsors Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd.
“I still can’t believe it,” Lesley said. “Neither of us have been overseas. We don’t even own passports. We don’t know anything about Singapore. We’ll have to sit and Google it. It was very nice of Gina Rinehart to donate the prize.”
The children and grandchildren will have to battle it out to see who will be going as extra passengers.
As an added bonus, the couple have been using their Christmas Lights display to raise awareness for a cause close to Lesley’s heart – organ and tissue donation.
“When my husband died, me and his Mum donated his organs,” she said. “We had already had the discussion, and I know that about six people benefitted from our decision to donate his organs. It was sad that he died, but at least he helped others to live and have better lives.
“There are so many people who don’t know anything about organ donation. We don’t push it on people but we have leaflets available, and we talk to people about it if they want to know anything.
“Donating life is one of the best gifts you could give anyone I think.”
Frank and Lesley will continue to operate their display for at least three days after December 25 so that as many people can enjoy their display as possible.
