Public voting begins today in Downtown Howell’s annual holiday storefront decorating contest.

This marks the 5th year of the "Deck the Windows" contest that helps kickoff the holiday season downtown. Businesses decorate their storefront or front door, chimney, rooftops or the entire building in order to further beautify downtown and kick-off the holiday season. This year's theme is 'The Night Before Christmas' and two businesses will win the friendly competition by collecting the most votes for 'People's Choice' or being selected as the best storefront by Mayor Nick Proctor to win the 'Mayor's Choice' Award. The storefront decorating promotion is a public voting contest held in conjunction with Howell’s annual Fantasy of Lights parade.

Voting will take place through November 26th. Public voting can be done either by text-to-vote with the code on each window or online. The link to vote will go live Tuesday and only one vote per person is permitted. (JM)