The Tribune Staff Reports
Judging for the annual Indiana Junior Duck Stamp Contest was March 24 at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge near Seymour.
There were 302 entries, and Larissa Weber, a 17-year-old student from Anderson, won the State Best of Show award with her entry of two trumpeter swans. This year marks Weber’s third time to win the contest.
Her entry has been forwarded to the national Junior Duck Stamp Contest to compete against other state winners in the late April judging.
An awards ceremony for Indiana’s first-, second- and third-place winners will be May 12 at the refuge during the Wings Over Muscatatuck festival.
The contest promotes learning about waterfowl and conservation by creating art and is a smaller version of the adult federal Duck Stamp Art Contest.
The national Junior Duck Stamp Contest winner receives a $2,000 cash award and a free trip to Washington, D.C., for the Federal Duck Stamp art competition judging. The national Junior Duck Stamp winner also is made into a collectible stamp.
The Indiana Junior Duck Stamp Contest is judged in four age categories with three first-, second- and third-place winners in each age category, plus 16 honorable mention if there are enough entries.
Local winners include:
First place (grades K-3): Liza Lanam, 6, and Thomas Kinder, 7, both of Kay Fox Studio
Second place (grades K-3): Gavin Ross, 6, Hayden Elementary School
Second place (grades 4-6): Ava Blomenberg, 10, Kay Fox Studio
Second place (grades 10-12): Haley Cornett, 18, Jennings County High School
Third place (grades K-3): Addison Otte, 9, homeschooled
Third place (grades 10-12): Jenn Ramirez, 15, and Kelly Streight, 15, both of Jennings County High School
Honorable mention (grades K-3): Lyla Broady, 8; Audrey McDonald, 8; Ava Malone, 9; Mercedes Reynolds, 8, all from Hayden Elementary School; Becca Herbert, 6, and Elsie Herbert, 9, both of Cortland Elementary School
Honorable mention (grades 7-9): Annie Boyd, 12, and Sarah Lemming, 14, both from Kay Fox Studio
Honorable mention (grades 10-12): Tatum Ramey, 16; Cora Hutchinson, 16; Alexander Stephens, 17; Danielle Sorensen, 18; Timothy Allman, 16; Abby Rowlett, 16; Bailey England, 17; Shawn Abell, 16; William Zarate, 17, all from Jennings County High School