Parade of Lights 2025 winners announced

On Feb. 18, 50 people gathered at Scotty’s Bar & Grill for the announcement of the winners of the Parade of Lights’ “Best Light Display” contest. Debbie Benham is the coordinator of this act of charity for the Salvation Army food pantry.

Eleven years ago, Benham and her husband, Mike, started the light parade with the blessing of the city as a food drive for the pantries in town. It has become a staple benefiting the Salvation Army’s food pantry. The drive and the parade are very well-received and have high participation as a Christmas event for the city of Mesquite.

Spectators are asked to bring nonperishables or canned goods to the parade. These are collected along the route by volunteers from Walmart. The parade has grown through the years, and so has the amount of food collected. Many of the local businesses participate by having a food dropbox at their locations.

This year, Benham collected 26,596 pounds of food. The 11-year total food and nonperishables collected is over 67 tons.

Anthony Rivera, director of the Mesquite Salvation Army, said, “Food insecurity is a big issue here in Mesquite; we are grateful so many people here want to help their neighbors. Debbie, Mike and their volunteers go steps beyond, collecting, weighing and delivering the food to the pantry. All of us at the Salvation Army want to thank you.”

The fun part is decorating the floats for the parade. This year, Virgin Valley Disposal took home the coveted first-place trophy, which they can keep and display for 2026. Second place went to Reliance Connects, and third place went to Guillen Plumbing.

The three judges making the hard decisions were Nancy Rosen, Julie Goodsell and Stephine Rowley.

Acknowledgement and certificates were given to the three largest donors. First place went to Deep Roots Harvest’s Robert Dehn. They had a food donation box in place with a discount for donors. Second place went Nancy and John Rosen, and third place to Linda Muse.

Benham gave a certificate to Carol Harris of the volunteer police. Their members and Police Officer Rowley, in his off-duty hours, delivered the collected food. Benham noted that Harris was consistently there to help.

Benham said, “I am always amazed at the generosity of our community for the food drive and the parade. It warms my heart at how many people donate and want to stay anonymous. I donate, but we are not rich, so the work involved is my largest contribution, and I will do it as long as I am able.”

Longtime Mesquite resident Chuck Thompson kicked off the 2026 food drive by giving Beham a $1,000 donation to get started.