Local Citizens honored at July 16 Photo Contest Reception

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle and Coleman Talley representative Russ Henry announced the winners of the 10th Annual Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest at an Awards Reception at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, on Monday, July 16.

For the past month, citizens have voted for their favorite contest photos, which are currently on display in the Art Center's Tillman Gallery.

This year's winners are:

First Place: Marvin Smith, One In A Million

Second Place: Susan Davis, Leaf-cicle

Third Place: Greg Fricker, Ruffled Dreams

Honorable Mentions:

Marvin Smith, His Eye Was Bigger Than His Stomach

Brody Lathem, The Old Traveler

Kaylee McCutchan, Dancing in the Rain

Nicholai Courtenay, Abandoned

Sophia Coronado, Old Vallotton's Dairy

Youth Winner: Amy Vincent, Make A Wish

Honorable Mentions:

Lexi Ramsay, Schools Out

Kingsten Courtenay, From Me to You

A $300 cash prize was awarded for first place, $200 cash prize for second place, and a $100 cash prize for third place from among the adult-submitted entries. Five honorable mentions were also selected.

The public also voted on the first-place youth photo (ages 16 and under) and one honorable mention. The youth first-place winner received a $100 cash award.

All award winners and honorable mentions will have their works professionally framed with an engraved nameplate. The photographs will remain on display in the Tillman Gallery through Wednesday, July 25, at which time they will become part of a traveling display that can be viewed from August until December 2018 in various community locations.

Mayor Gayle also awarded performer Gloria Townsend with a mayor's coin at the beginning of the reception. Townsend has been playing guitar for a year and a half. Gloria's counselor at the Boys and Girls Club signed her up without her knowing about it. Townsend said the guitar lessons helped her discover her singing voice, as she now writes and sings her own music. You never know how one act of kindness is going to change someone's life. But, there's another person who is also responsible for Gloria's success, her grandmother, Gloria Phillips. Townsend has been raised by her very dedicated grandmother, who is the backbone of support for this young person's life.

"The City of Valdosta needs more people like these two individuals. And I would like to award this City of Valdosta mayor's coin to both Gloria and her grandmother for being great examples of hard work, commitment, and love for others," said Gayle.

Gloria is a recipient of the Turner Center for the Art's Hal & Jill Project, which allows youth in the Valdosta-Lowndes County community to take guitar lessons for free and provides the guitar on which they learn.

The partnership between the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, co-organizers of the Photo Contest, recognizes the importance of the arts as a quality of life, civic engagement and economic development tool in the community.

For more information, call the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts at (229) 247-2787 or the City's Public Information Office at (229) 259-3548.