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Patch's Summer Vacation Photo Contest — Grand Prize Winner Is ...

Nearly 300 votes were tallied for our four great photo finalists. Who won the grand prize?

 

The results are in and after nearly 300 votes, Jen Adams' picture of a stunning view from the clouds has won the finals of Patch's Summer Vacation Photo Contest.

For receiving the most votes, Jen wins a the grand prize getaway to Stillwater valued up to $500 that includes an overnight stay at Water Street Inn, a Foodies on Foot adventure and a tour at Northern Vineyards Winery.

Jeff Grotte's photo of a "south Moulton barn outside of Jackson on the long drive home from a roadtrip out west" was a close second with 111 votes.

Jen qualified for the finals by winning the first of four weekly contests, which also netted her a $25 gift card from Caribou Coffee. She was joined by Week 2 winner Jeff, Week 3 winner Kerry Gervais Hjelmgren and Week 4 winner Kathy.

Each week, Minnesota Patch sites accepted photo submissions and Northfield Patch Editor Corey Butler Jr. and Minnesota Associate Regional Editor Kevira Voegele narrowed the field to 10 photos for voting. Patch users then voted for their favorite photos to move to the finals.

Here are a few of the comments from the 125 people who voted for Jen's photo:

Jean Soule: No. 1, Girl on the Rock, very magical and serene, great place to do some deep thinking, just be very careful where you step!

Nick Jensen: #1 is awesome - it makes me think she is waiting to meet the gods.

Keith Mason: #1 It truly captures the essense and feeling of being on a relaxing vacation.

Photo Number Number of Votes
1 125
2 111
3 25
4 28


And, some of the legal details: 

  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • To enter, upload your summer vacation photos to the “Patch's Summer Vacation Photo Contest“ post on any of the 25 Minnesota Patch sites. Entrants can only submit photos of their own original photos, which must be from this summer. The use of any agencies or automated software to submit entries will void all entries submitted by that person. 
  • All entries must be received by 9 p.m. CDT Wednesday of the competing week.
  • Four weekly winners will receive a $25 gift card to Caribou Coffee.
  • One grand prize winner selected from the weekly winners will receive a grand prize valued up to $500. The grand prize includes an overnight stay at Water Street Inn, a Foodies on Foot adventure and a tour at Northern Vineyards Winery, all located in Stillwater. Transportation to/from Stillwater is not included in the prize and will be the responsibility of the winner.

See the attached PDF for complete Official Rules.

Related Topics: Caribou Coffee, Contest, Foodies on Foot, Northern Vineyards Winery, Patch's Summer Vacation Photo Contest, Summer, and Water Street Inn

Great Contest!

8:32 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

What a great contest idea. However, I absolutely think that voting needs to be handled differently next time considering the fact that, in my opinion, cheating was quite evident.

Reply

Corey Butler Jr.

8:42 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

Thanks for the comment. We continue to work on finding the best way to handle our contests.

Reply

Dissappointed Voter

11:28 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

I too liked seeing all of the great photos throughout the contest. It was great to see one person rally some votes and then another person work their way back throughout the day. I however lost interest when I recognized patterns of cheating and figured out that it was maybe less about a great photo, or even networking, and more about how much time one person could spend on their computer leaving comments under different names on a regular time interval. A time interval which is about the same is it takes to create a name to leave a comment under. I even saw a vote come from the one and only Kirby Puckett in an earlier round. Because of this I will not vote in the contest if it happens again. Thank you to all the people who submitted wonderful photos and chose to play fair.

Reply

Jeff Grotte

6:32 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012

Thank you to everyone who supported me by voting for my photo and spreading the word to your friends. It ended up being very close and I was happy to get all the votes that I did get. Maybe I will have better luck next time.

Reply

Cindy

6:54 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Boy, I guess I missed the excitement if people were taking the time to register fake accounts to vote for a photo! If you did that let me just say that deep down you know that was wrong and you'll have to answer for it some day, He sees everything.

Reply

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