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The Windsor Lions Club of Virginia announced on Monday, June 3, the winners of its inaugural Beautiful Windsor Spring Yard Contest — C.P. and Janice Griffith, of Shiloh Drive.

The contest, organized by Lion Nina Ambrose, was designed as a fun way to beautify the town and help the environment.

Ambrose and the Lions Club selected three front yards from within the heart of Windsor that had looked nice in the fall and winter, and they tracked them to see which looked best in the spring.

The locations of the yards had been largely kept secret to help draw participation from everyone in the town.

Earlier in the spring, Ambrose noted that in the last week of May, each of the approximately 24 members of the club would survey the three selected yards and then cast votes.

“So the Windsor Lions will vote for which one they think won the prettiest yard,” she said, and the winner will receive a gift card.

As she presented the gift card to the Griffiths on their front lawn on June 3, Ambrose said, “We want to thank you so much for having this beautiful yard and for not knowing it but being part of our contest.”

Contest sponsors included Windsor True Value, Supreme Auto Gas and Service, and Arrowhead Environmental Services.

It has been almost nine years since the Griffiths bought their house on Shiloh Drive, and they noted putting a lot of work into it to make it look as good as it does now.

As far as the landscaping, Janice noted that it has been developed to its present state for the past four or five years.

“I think we did it before COVID,” she said.

And how long does it take each week to maintain their yard’s outstanding appearance?

“It takes me a couple hours just to do the grass cutting,” C.P. said.

And Janice estimated she spends 30 more minutes a week on weeding.

“I try to keep it up,” she said.

Both Janice and C.P. were already noticing things they needed to attend to on Monday.

“You can probably still see some I need to pull,” she said, and he added, “I cut the grass yesterday and look around the edge of that mulch right there — coming up already.”

C.P. affirmed that lawn maintenance is a never-ending battle.

“I enjoy it, though,” he said. “I was raised up cutting grass — half the town in Drewryville.”

When asked what it meant to be recognized as the winner of the Beautiful Windsor Spring Yard Contest, Janice said, “It’s a privilege and an honor. I had no clue we would ever get something like that. We just like a pretty yard.”

C.P. said, “I like to keep things nice and just, like she said, (it’s) a privilege and an honor to be recognized.”

At the conclusion of the gift presentation ceremony on Monday, Ambrose said, “We would like to say that next year we would like people to send suggestions for homes to be in the contest, and they can do that at our Facebook page.”

The page can be found by searching for “Windsor Lions Club Of Virginia” on Facebook.