By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – There were more than 60 submissions from 25 photographers for the 2007 Hunter Ice Festival Photo Contest.
It was almost 24 photographers. It's a good thing Scott Meredith decided to enter.
"I wasn't even going to submit the thing. It's not what I wanted," said the resident of South Bend, Ind. "I took one picture and wasn't going to submit it, and I won."
Second prize was awarded to Niles resident Vickie Walls, and Marty Paquette, also a Niles resident, won third prize.
The contest was sponsored by the Niles District Library and coordinated by Conrad Rader, who said the judges commented that the quality of the entries was up a lot from last year. Meredith's captured in his winning image his daughters – 8-year-old Halle and 5-year-old Sydney – and his friends' twins – 8-year-old Abby and Carmen Urbanski – all standing behind a block of un-carved ice.
"Everybody else I saw pretty much took picture of the sculptures," Meredith said, adding the judges – Harry Trescher and Richard Cooper – said his photo had all three elements required of a winning image: color, ice and community.
Meredith's prize was $100 cash and a pint of the festival favorite Hunter Ice Cream. He donated the money to St. Mary's in Niles, but said he is yet to receive his ice cream. "I'm kind of looking forward to the ice cream," Meredith said. "I haven't seen that yet. I think somebody ate it." All photo entries can be viewed at the Niles library or at www.huntericephoto.googlepages.com/ huntericefestival2007.