Congrats to the 2020 People’s Choice Award-Winning Floats!
Oskaloosa Christian School won the people choice award for 2020.
(Oskaloosa, Iowa) – Oskaloosa Main Street is excited to announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place People’s Choice Awards for the 2020 Lighted Christmas Display, which was held downtown as a drive-thru event on Saturday, December 5, 2020. Voting opened shortly after 6pm on Saturday night and closed at noon on Monday.
1st Place: Oskaloosa Christian School
Oskaloosa Christian School’s heartwarming and creative entry was a hit! Unable to crowd students onto a float due to health and safety guidelines, they instead lined the windows of a school bus with 21 tablets playing pre-recorded videos of Oskaloosa Christian School students waving. “It was an innovative way for students to ‘virtually’ participate in the school’s float,” says Janet Kuskie, Oskaloosa Main Street Board President. “We’re pleased that the community thought so, too.”
2nd Place: Musco Sports Lighting
Musco’s 2nd place entry took us back nearly 100 years to pay homage to Oskaloosa’s Rivola Theatre, which opened in 1921 and closed in 1984—the original marquee of which now proudly hangs inside Smokey Row. Musco’s float featured a replica of the Rivola and an animated entertainment stage with jazz music and dancers. The float utilized 200,000+ individually programed LED lights to make the animation come to life and took 200+ hours for Musco Team members to build.
3rd Place: Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation
Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation took 3rd place with a glittering trail tram stuffed full of Christmas presents and driven by none other than the Grinch. Sherry Vavra, Executive Director of MCRF, and her daughter enjoyed spending the evening waving to drive-thru spectators of all ages who were “laughing all the way!”
The drive-thru display brought more than 1,200 vehicles through downtown Oskaloosa Saturday night and was extended through 9:30 pm to get the line of cars through.
“We want to thank all of this year’s entries for participating and for making changes to their floats as we modified the parade—and also for staying late so that more people could drive through!” says Jessica Reuter, Oskaloosa Main Street Director. “We’re very much looking forward to next year and filling the downtown streets with 70+ floats for our traditional parade.”
