Cash, gift cards up for grabs in holiday photo contest

Article content

Rocco Frangione, Local Journalism Initiative

Sundridge is offering cash and gift cards as prizes in its first-ever holiday photo contest.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser.

Cash, gift cards up for grabs in holiday photo contest Back to video

Staff generated a report for council several weeks ago spelling out details of the contest and council endorsed it. The fine-tuning has been finalized and the contest is now underway.

“It’s to keep community spirit going,” explains Christine Hickey, the municipality’s deputy clerk.

With Christmas just around the corner, the rules of the contest are simple: Photographs must reflect the holiday season and they must be of Sundridge.

You don’t have to be a Sundridge resident to enter. The only people not eligible to enter are Sundridge municipal staff and their immediate families, as well as anyone under 18 years of age.

Images can be submitted to the municipality either in .jpg or .png format, and contestants need to sign a waiver declaring the photograph or photographs were taken in Sundridge and that the municipality can use the images as it wishes.

Article content continued

“We’re in the process of launching a new website for the Village of Sundridge, so the images might be used on the new site,” Hickey explains.

Sundridge also might add the images to its Facebook page, and they could also make their way into future promotional pamphlets.

Hickey says there are prizes for the Top 5 photos.

The winner will receive $250, plus $50 in gift cards and Sundridge swag. Second receives $150, plus $100 in gift cards and swag. Third wins $100 and $100 in gift cards and swag, and fourth and fifth each receive $125 in gift cards and swag.

Hickey says council originally budgeted $500, which was to be used to cover the gift cards and swag. But someone anonymously donated $500 to the municipality, which allowed it to create the Top 3 cash prizes of $250, $150 and $125 respectively. The village is buying the gift cards from local merchants.

Hickey says it’s up to council to decide whether the contest will be repeated next year at Christmas or at a different time with a different theme.

“We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re hoping for an overwhelming response,” she says.

Members of council will determine the winning images at the end of council’s Dec. 9 meeting, to be broadcast over Zoom.

Email contest entries to admin@sundridge.ca. The contest closes Dec. 7.

Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.