HUMBOLDT ? There must have been some magic in those old steel plates they found.
Or the post office packages, recycled tires, beer packages, or even the wooden spools designed to hold cable.
Regardless of the medium, Humboldt residents have been treated this month to a good, old-fashioned dose of imagination-fueled holiday spirit, courtesy of a snowman contest.
More than 30 businesses took part, crafting their snowmen through November and December.
Judging was completed Friday, with the Humboldt Pharmacy?s entry ? a hand-cut flat snowman that accentuates its elemental snowflake design, complete with a scarf, a heart, and even a Humboldt Pharmacy prescription bottle ? coming out on top.
Ashley Pharmacy employees receiving an award as part of Humboldt?s snowman contest are, from left, Christy Seufert, Beverly Headley and Sara Gutierrez. COURTESY PHOTO
Pharmacy employees received a framed certificate, a snowglobe, cookies ? and perhaps most importantly ? bragging rights from what became a highly competitive contest.
The genesis for the snowman contest came from Humboldt city office workers Staci Johnson and Dana Peters, who noticed several businesses had adorned their storefronts with fall decorations earlier this year.
?We just thought we needed to do something like that for the holidays,? Johnson said.
Humboldt?s Chamber of Commerce quickly embraced the idea and became the contest?s sponsor.
Contest rules were kept simple, stating entries could be made of any materials and that only eyes, a mouth and nose were required of each snowmen.
A snowman decorates the Humboldt post office. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
The rest was up to the creativity of those designing the pieces.
Ray and Donna Salzwedel and Iolan Donna Houser were tapped as judges.
