Tacky sweaters are Ho! Ho! Ho!

You can find them everywhere this time of year.

In shopping malls and grocery stores. At office work parties and family gatherings. On your great aunt and, for the unfortunate few, as a present under the tree.

Tacky sweaters are as common a Christmas fixture as the fruitcake, so why not have some fun with them?

That’s what the staff at Dalton Elementary School thought when they hatched a plan for a tacky holiday sweater contest to be held the last day of school before the holiday break.

On Wednesday, school staff voted for their favorite.

Employees donned sweaters so gaudy, one wondered just where they found such things. Many sported homemade additions.

“When you work at a school … you look to acquire items like these,” said Dalton office manager Pam Nordby, known by the students as Princess Pam.

Nordby and her gold get-up, complete with fake leaves and flowers attached with gold safety pins, won the contest and the shiny trophy that came with it.

“I’d like to thank the little people – all 400 of you,” Nordby said after accepting the award. About 400 children attend Dalton.

Nordby’s winning sweater beat out some other quite extravagant creations, including Principal Kathy Liverman’s battery-powered green sweater with flashing holiday lights.

“We had a lot of good ones,” Nordby said. “Not as good as mine, of course.”