Pipestone Flyer
The first ever writing competition hosted in the Wetaskiwin region was themed ‘A funny thing happened at or on the way to the Trade Show’ and held in conjunction with the Wetaskiwin and District Chamber of Commerce Trade Show, April 12th and 13th. Judges, Margaret Chegwin a reporter for the Pipestone Flyer and Lucas Warren editor of WONK went over the entries and declared local writer, Lori Feldberg the winner of all categories.
This was the first of a series of four competitions with the following three to be held: Rodeo & Pioneer Days - May 31 deadline; Agriculture & Arts Festival (or if it is cancelled - Harvest Days) - Aug. 23 deadline; and Alberta Culture Days - Sept. 20 deadline. The writing events offer the many talented authors of Wetaskiwin City, County, and Hobbema, a chance to showcase their writing while gathering a selection of winning entries from each of the four competitions to appear in an anthology for fund raising for the Wetaskiwin Public Library.
The judges used the Merit System that allows for more than one winner for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd as merited, plus one Grand Prize winner for each of the four classes (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poem Rhymed, Poem Unrhymed). Judging ‘blind’ means no author names are on the entries. Chegwin and Warren read and evaluated each poem and short story then exchanged opinions to award the entries with prize bookmarks as follows:
Poems – Not Rhymed
lst At The Trade Show Lori Feldberg
2nd Spring Time In Wetaskiwin Lynn Croft
Poems – Rhymed
lst It Happened At The Trade Show Lori Feldberg
2nd Hoar Frost Kathleen Wilson
3rd To The Trade Show Junkie Lynn Croft
Short Story-Fiction
1st Trade Show Doctor Saves The Day Lori Feldberg
2nd Last Time Greg Karenko
2nd A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way To The Wetaskiwin Trade Show Isabel Didriksen
Short Story – Non-Fiction
1st Tears At The Trade Show Lori Feldberg
2nd A Driving Challenge Kathleen Smart
Although there were a limited number of entries for this first competition, it is anticipated the interest by authors to showcase their work will grow and more authors will enter their ‘works of art’ in the successive competitions.
Judges Chegwin and Warren noted that some of the entries did not follow the theme well (A funny thing happened at or on the way to the Trade Show), while others had typo errors including poor or missing punctuation, incorrect set-up with regard to dialogue and spelling/word mistakes. With the lack of entries and errors in manuscripts, some 3rd place prizes were not awarded, while in one instance two 2nd prizes were given.
Competition Themes:
• For Trade Show Comp: ‘A funny thing happened on the way to the trade show or‘A funny thing happened at the trade show . . .
• For Pioneer Days & Rodeo Comp: Rodeo/Fairs/Parades gone by
• For Agriculture & Arts Festival Comp: Festival fun – the sights, sounds, smells
• For Alberta Culture Days Comp: Why you/your ancestors chose the Wetaskiwin area
The Wetaskiwin writing competitions are open to the public and not restricted to writing group membership. All Wetaskiwin writing groups, residents of the City of Wetaskiwin and the County of Wetaskiwin and those residing outside those boundaries who are members of Wetaskiwin Word Weavers, Lone Ridge Ink Shedders and The Writer’s Wellspring (Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship) are invited to submit enteries. Writing competitions may be changed as circumstances dictate. For further details go to www.wetaskiwinpubliclibrary.ab.ca. Entry Forms and these rules and guidelines are available at City and County Libraries, City Hall, Chamber of Commerce, and the writing groups.
The Word Weavers writing club is grateful to the four Grand Prize Sponsors ($25 awards): Royal LePage Parkland Agencies, Creative Design Denture Clinic, Dyck Insurance and the Royal Bank of Canada