Winners announced for growing St. Luke’s LEGO Contest

Bilbo Baggins’ General Store by Isabelle Gross. Click photo to launch gallery.
Photos by Shawn Cunningham.

This year’s LEGO Contest, sponsored by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and held on Saturday March 21 at the NewsBank Conference Center in Chester, was the largest exhibition in the four years of the event.

The number of 2015 entries increased over those from last year by 33 percent to total of 67, exhibitors coming from 23 towns in Vermont and four in New Hampshire. Entrants, siblings, parents, grandparents and friends eagerly crowded the facility to see this year’s original creations.

Logging the 45 Acres by Cyrus Gross.

Two teams of judges spoke with exhibitors to discover the intent and details of the creations. Afterward the judges wrote appreciative comments on each entry card. All contestants received a medal for entering, and first- and second-place ribbons and prizes of various LEGO displays were awarded to grade and division winners.

The 2015 LEGO Contest winners are:

• Pre-K, 1^st Place: Victoria Turco of Mt. Holly for Pony Place;
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  The Creative Corner was fun for parents too.

  Pre-K, 2^nd Place: Liam Howard of Lebanon, N.H., for Spaceship;

• Kindergarten, 1^st Place: Caitlyn Johnson of Concord, N.H., for Dog Training Center;
• Kindergarten, 2^nd Place: Michelle Klepp of Baltimore for Michelle’s LEGO Ranch;
• First Grade, 1^st Place: Niah Doran of Chester for The Horse Farm;
• First Grade, 2^nd Place: Miles Ouellette of Peru for Diamond Mine;
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  The Vermont Homestead by Jacob Thayer.

  Second Grade, 1^st Place: Odin Mitchell of Hanover, N.H., for Marine Life Rescue Center;

• Second Grade, 2^nd Place: Padraig Parker of Grafton for Emergency Navy;
• Third Grade, 1^st Place: Estella Gross of Cavendish for Owl Farm;
• Third Grade, 2^nd Place: Aislinn Doran of Chester for The Country Cottage;
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  The LEGO Pet Shop, creator unknown.

  Fourth Grade, 1^st Place: Joey Gomez and Isaiah Rivet of Mt. Holly for Space Port;

• Fourth Grade, 2^nd Place: Cole McLaughlin of Concord, N.H., for Train Repair Shop;
• Fifth Grade, 1^st Place: Everett Mosher of Chester for The Mall;
• Fifth Grade, 2^nd Place: Isabelle Gross of Cavendish for Bilbo Baggins’ General Store;
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  The Mall by Everett Mosher.

  Sixth Grade, 1^st Place: Owyn Aldrich of Charlestown, N.H., for LEGO Rooms;

• Sixth Grade, 2^nd Place: Sam Lake of Brookfield for LEGO Gun;
• Family, 1^st Place: Atkin family from Bellows Falls for Vermont Sugar;
• Family, 2^nd Place: Nissenbaum family of Perkinsville for Legend of the Sky (Spaceship).

The Most Vermont award went to Cyrus Gross, a first grader from Cavendish, for his Logging the 45 Acres.

The Judges award for Best in Show went to Jacob Thayer, a fifth grader from Chester, for The Vermont Homestead.

For the first time, the contestants voted separately for their favorite among all the entries. Their award – entitled Creators’ Choice – also went to Jacob Thayer for The Vermont Homestead. His winning entry will be on display at the Whiting Library for about a month.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church thanks all the exhibitors, donors and volunteers who made the event a success, especially NewsBank for donating the Conference Center, Lisai’s Market in Chester for donation of drinks and supplies and Allen Brothers in Bellows Falls for donation of half of the doughnuts. Proceeds from the event will benefit both the church and the Children’s Section of the Whiting Library in Chester.