CTHBA celebrates 53rd annual Parade of Homes

By NICOLE METTS
Cove Leader Press

The Central Texas Home Builders Association held its awards banquet Friday evening in Harker Heights for the 53rd annual Parade of Homes. 
Awards included best kitchen, best bath, best interior design, best craftmanship, best exterior and curb appeal, and best overall winner which were awarded for five different price points ranging from $249,900 to $645,000, with 18 different homes in the running for these categories. 
A panel of judges was selected from outside the local area, coming from Austin to Houston and all the way to Washington, D.C. 
Many builders built with the parade in mind, but not all. 
“I feel like this is our best year yet. We have never had such a good turnout; so many happy people. It’s like everybody’s satisfied. This is the best party we’ve thrown. It’s the first time we have had a full house I think,” said Lauren Reider, with John Reider Properties and this year’s parade coordinator.  
Prior to announcing the awards for the homes, four $1,000 scholarships to local high school students were awarded. 
Recipients included senior Josh Smith of Copperas High School, who plans to attend Texas State for business administration/ senior Matthew Smith, also from CCHS who will be studying criminal law and then attending law school; Ty Kern, a senior at Academy High School who plans to attend Texas A&M; and Brooke Johnson, a senior at Lampasas High School who plans to attend attending Tyler Junior College to study pharmaceutical medicine. 
Many homebuilders won awards including; Ben Atkinson Custom Homes, Alethium Star Homes, Flintrock Builders, Dustin Dewald Homes, A&G Homes, Purser Homes, Carothers Homes, D.R. Horton, Style Craft Builders and Dream Home Builders. 
Overall winner was Flintrock Builders, which also swept seven other categories for its parade entry 1007 Bella Vita Dr. in Nolanville along with its other entry in the parade.
Purser Homes won five awards, Dustin Dewald Homes won five, A&G Homes won, Ben Atkinson received two, Alethium Star Homes were awarded two, with Carothers Homes, D.R. Horton, Dream Home Builders and Stylecraft Builders each receiving one award. 
“I’m very excited and encouraged with all the good response to our houses,” said Joann Purser, who is with Purser Homes and is the immediate past president of the CTHBA. “I think it’s great to win an award from your peers. I am really looking forward to the clients that find us and their home and realize these are award-winning homes.”
Builder Dustin Paul Dewald talked about being involved in the parades over time. 
“I’ve had homes in the parades here for probably close to 20 years. It was a lot of fun putting it together and building it. All my contractors did a really good job on it. All a team effort,”
Teri Sterner is the executive officer of the Central Texas Home Builders Association. 
“We had a great turnout and we appreciate everyone that came and supported the builders in our community.”
Jimmy Alexander commended SWBC Mortgage Corporation, as well as the winning builders. “Display (the awards) proudly for the next couple weeks for the Parade of Homes,” Alexander said.
All 18 entries for the Parade of Homes are in Killeen, Nolanville, Belton, Temple and Salado and are open to the public from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6. 
A map is available at http://cthbaparadeofhomes.com/map/. 
This weekend is the final chance for the selfie contest with Ashely Furniture. 
When visiting entries of the Parade of Homes, take a selfie at six of the properties and enter for a chance to win a $1,500 gift card from Ashley furniture. Participants must post each individual photo on their Facebook page and tag Central Texas Home Builders Association and Ashley Furniture Homestore Killeen, TX with the following hashtags- #iwonashleysfuniture #CTHBAParadeofhomes.