Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Shortly after he was named the cutest boy in a Botetourt County photo contest, Corey Wiley - dressed impeccably in a burgundy suit, pink shirt and beige tie - solidified his credentials as a male of few words.
"How does it feel to be the winner?" he was asked.
"Fine," replied the 5-year-old, shyly turning his head toward his mother's leg.
Meanwhile, the winner in the girls' category was being coy.
Jessica Kennedy, 3, remained silent but shuffled one foot in her ruffled dress. She looked sweetly at her mother and smiled after winning the contest, which was for children 6 and under.
Monday night's ceremony was what you'd expect from a photo contest involving children. There were doting parents, occasional crying jags by contestants, and jockeying for attention by the young and restless.
There were little boys in neckties and girls in lace, with pigtails and bows in their hair. One little girl pushed her dolly toward her daddy's face, demanding a kiss on its behalf.
What was unusual were the rules by which they played. General District Judge Louis Campbell in March ruled that the show must go on, even though the man who originally proposed it was convicted of false advertising in promoting it.
Campbell found that Daniel Napier of Bonsack was more interested in selling photographs than he was in holding a legitimate cute kid contest.
Campbell ordered Napier to fork over the money needed for prizes to the commonwealth's attorney's office. The contest offered a first-place prize of a $200 savings bond for a boy and girl. Second- and third-place finishers in the girls' and boys' category received $100 and $50 savings bonds, respectively.
All 14 participants were given trophies.
The refreshments and banquet room, plus flowers for the girls' winner, were donated by businesses.
Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan decided to become personally involved. He handed each participant a prize, even if he had to coax them over on bended knee.
The ceremony required Hagan and his victim-witness coordinator, Lori East, to make many strategic decisions.
"I think we'll give the awards first," East said. "We don't want cake down their fronts."
Political correctness reared its ugly head; Hagan realized he had relegated the girls to the second row.
"We're saving the best for last," he said.
Some of the contestants went running back to Mama even before the awards ceremony began. Hagan himself ended up carrying chairs into the banquet room of the Coachman Best Western Inn when seats ran out.
Parents were just happy that the contest took place without Napier's involvement.
"I was mad. I'm glad something was done about it," said Lora Eakin, whose 13-month-old son, Joshua, was first runner-up in the boys' division. "We just wanted to have a good time. We had a good time tonight."
Teresa Craighead, whose daughter, Sheena, 5, won honorable mention, said she was happy that Campbell and Hagan took a stand.
"They made the right decision," she said. "They made a lot of kids happy."
by CNB