A recent snow day produced a batch of snowmen created by area children and that led to an impromptu contest.
Officers from the Archbold Police noticed the snowmen and after talking about it with their superiors, a contest was born. The department used social media to spread the word and invited the community to participate.
The officers took 25-26 photographs of the snowmen, Assistant Chief Leo Wixom III. Those were given to the police chief who narrowed the field down to six.
“He put them on our Facebook page,” Wixom said. “The community then voted on them.”
The contest post reached 11,000 people and was shared 55 times, Wixom said.
“It turned out really well,” Wixom said.
The winner, Makayla Guy of Archbold, had 319 votes. She received a prize pack consisting of a water bottle, stuffed animals, a flying disc, and chalk.
The prizes came from donations the department had received from local insurance companies.
The contest went a long way to promote a positive image for the department, Wixom said.
“With law enforcement getting a lot of bad rap, we thought with a lot of people being off the week before Christmas, this would be a good idea,” Wixom said.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com