Mother Nature smiled on the final days of the 11th annual StrawFest Sculpting Contest in Mt. Morris on Aug. 22-23. Five teams of two competed in the Straw Bale Races on Wesley Avenue, with Jake Nicholson and Sam Helmich winning the $50 cash prize. The event included a 5K, live music, kids’ games, and straw sculpture contests.
Five sculptures were judged, with winners being ‘Mt. Cheddarest’ (Danica and Mark Rogers), ‘The Tree of Life’ (Bobbi Hanna, Fran Volz, Kelsey, Gadsden, Oren, Ronan), ‘Hay-land Coo’ (Doreen Hartman), and ‘Wellers Woods Gnome’ (Chris and Cecilia Mann). The U.S. National Straw Sculpting Competition began in Rochelle in 2016, inspired by a German event, and is now hosted by Encore! Mt. Morris.