A Week of Community - Contest Rules!

Blogging is all about community. We follow bloggers that have similar interests as us, leave comments to join in discussion and encourage one another, and form friendships based on our commonalities. I love blogging!

So this week we're going to celebrate community in its various forms, from our blogging friends, to church groups and family. And to kick off the week, I invite you to enter a contest that will remind us of what we have to be thankful for in our relationships! (Please read carefully!)

The Community Contest

Basically, the premise of this contest is to create something - be it a photograph, a poem, a short story, a drawing, etc. - that in some way demonstrates and celebrates community. Here are the rules:

• You have between now and Wednesday night (August 17th) at 10:00 PM (PST) to e-mail me your entries at amberstokes@corban.edu. If your entry is not a written entry, just e-mail me a picture of it (or the photograph itself, if that's what you're entering).
  

• Your entries will be judged on two criteria: quality (ie: image quality, grammar, etc.) and theme (how well the entry incorporates the idea of community). It doesn't matter when you created your entry, as long as it's your own original work. Only one entry per person.
  

• One winner will receive a $10 Amazon.com gift card. The top 3 entries (or more, depending on the number of entries) will be posted here on this blog on Saturday, August 20th (either as images or as written pieces).

Who will be judging your entries? Let's meet our celebrity judges!

Laura Frantz

"Laura Frantz credits her grandmother as being the catalyst for her fascination with Kentucky history. Frantz's family followed Daniel Boone into Kentucky in the late eighteenth century and settled in Madison County, where her family still resides. Frantz is the author of The Frontiersman's Daughter and Courting Morrow Little and currently lives in the misty woods of Washington with her husband and two sons."

KC Frantzen

"KC taught fifth grade, worked for an oilfield supply company, a pharmaceutical company, then embarked on several entrepreneurial endeavors. She volunteers with a variety of projects, including the Joni & Friends Wounded Warrior Getaway.

KC and her husband enjoy traveling just about anywhere, which helps formulate ideas for her stories. The family lives in the Tennessee hills - two humans, two Arabian horses and several rescued dogs, including May."

Note: KC has a busy week ahead of her, so she might not be able to judge. But if she has the time, she and May are happy to be on board!

Brenda Stokes

That's right - I've recruited my mom as a celebrity judge! ;) Fisher-woman extraordinaire and an absolutely amazing mother, my mom has graciously agreed to help judge this contest.

One Last Note (Or Two):

Remember, I need your entries by Wednesday night at 10:00 PM in order to give our wonderful judges enough time to judge the entries. Yes, there is a prize, but most of all I'd love to have this be a fun way for us to creatively remind each other of the blessed joys of community in its various forms!

Bonus!

When you e-mail your entry to the contest, let me know if you'd like your name added to a bonus drawing for Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs. The winner will be determined using Random.org's "List Randomizer," so this drawing has nothing to do with whether you win the contest or not. U.S. residents only, please!

(With thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of Mine is the Night to give away to one of my readers!)

I know this is a lot to take in, so feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section! And be sure to return throughout the week for community-themed posts and book reviews!