Contests abound in Leaderland, and we have something for everyone. Our Year in Review photo contest submission period ended on Sunday with voting taking place through this coming Sunday. Izzy Cherrone from Woodland Terrace is in the lead in popular voting with her shot titled: “I Do.” Be sure to vote for your favorite. The winner will receive $100 and will be the cover shot of our Year in Review section Jan. 24 in Off the Water. The winners will receive $175 in cash prizes.

On Tuesday evening, we launched “Name that Run” in partnership with the Niles-Buchanan YMCA. They are adding a new 5k walk/skip/run/hop on Saturday, June 22, and they need a catchy name for this colorful race. Participants will become human art as their bodies become palettes for the colored cornstarch that will be tossed at them at various points in the route. It should be fun to participate and watch. I’m being pressured to get in shape to run with the 60 and older crowd. I may just break down and join the Y if I can only find the time to work out. The winner will receive a family pack for the race valued at $90. Deadline for submissions is Sunday, Feb. 3.

The Hunter Ice Festival happens this weekend in Niles. This is one of Niles Main Street’s most popular events. While you can enjoy this event for free, it is expensive to pull off. The Niles-Buchanan Rotary Club along with Signal Travel and Leader Publications were given the opportunity to provide a fundraiser to help keep this event alive for years to come. For $25, Rotarians and Main Street merchants are selling raffle tickets good for a stay at the Ice Hotel in Montreal, courtesy of Signal Travel. While exotic, this trip may not be your cup of ice. If you win, you will have a travel voucher option worth $1,607 to wherever fits your fancy.
Stop by my office here in Niles if you want to buy some tickets in advance. Our Rotary Club will be selling tickets at our booth in the warming station. Thanks in advance to the students from Brandywine, Buchanan and Niles High Schools for helping. Please stop by and say hello.

Leader Publications has also partnered with Niles Main Street with an online photo contest for this year’s Hunter Ice Festival. The organization will be providing cash prizes to the winners. Remember to bring your digital camera this weekend and take plenty of great shots. Think people having fun.

Love Letters is also happening now with the winning essay earning a $100 gift certificate to Shelton’s Farm Market in Niles. I hope everybody finds love in their lives and many of you have great stories be they humorous or heart warming. The best will be published in our Love Letters section coming right before Valentine’s Day in Off the Water on Thursday, Feb. 7. NASCAR will be coming up soon not to mention the NCAA brackets in March. And I have a few good ideas to discuss with the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival. My apologies but all submissions need to be done online. I know for some of you this can be a challenge. You can utilize the computers at your local library or perhaps your children or grandchildren can help.

Check out Leaderpub.com for more details on these contests and those to come. Just go to the contest tab on the far right of our site to see what’s happening in the drop-down menu.