Mayor’s Multicultural Christmas Card Competition Winner Announced
For the 2017 festive season, the Mayor of Henley has a multicultural Christmas on the cards – literally! Yesterday morning, Mayor Kellie Hinton and Councillor David Eggleton visited Valley Road Primary School to announce the winner of the annual Christmas card competition. 11-year-old Lottie Baker stole the show with her creativity, and was awarded first place for her interpretation of the ‘Christmas Around The World’ theme.
Lottie will have her artwork printed on the Mayor’s official Christmas card, which will be printed 200 times by Higgs, and distributed by the Mayor to inspire some continental cheer! As part of her prize, Lottie also received four tickets to this year’s Kenton Theatre pantomime, ‘Robin Hood’, worth £65. To top it off, Lottie will also have the honour of helping Mayor Kellie Hinton turn on the Town Square’s Christmas tree lights at the annual Christmas Festival on 1 December.
Lottie described the inspiration behind her design, revealing, “I thought it represented all the countries.” Her drawing depicted a multitude of flags, spiralled in the shape of a Christmas tree, and accompanied by some snowmen for good measure! Both delighted and shocked by her victory, Lottie said, “I never thought I would do it! My sister is going to be like, ‘wow, I didn’t know you could draw’, and my brother will probably say the same!”
The competition was as outstanding as ever, with over 300 children submitting their designs for consideration. Beatrice Fraser, 10, of Badgemore, seized second place for her drawing of the world surrounded by Christmas wishes in different languages. Theo Decardi-Nelson, 7, also of Valley Road, came in at a brilliant third for his scenes of Christmas in different countries. They both received a selection of books for their artwork, provided by The Primary Times. Though there can only be one overall winner, all the wonderful entries will have their moment to shine in a special display at the River and Rowing Museum.
With an abundance of excellent designs to choose from, Mayor Kellie Hinton revealed the difficulty of judging the competition. “It was amazing, and really hard to choose a winner. I really had to pay attention and do them justice.” She was also thrilled to see all the children incorporating the theme of ‘Christmas Around The World’, though it only made her decision harder! “They really embraced the theme,” she said, “and that was true regardless of age group.” However, when choosing a final winner, it was Lottie who lead from the start. “Her card stood out to me from the very beginning. We managed after some effort to whittle it down to 10 finalists. Going through those ones, it still stood out. I loved the spiral in the shape of a tree, like a long scarf made out of flags. Also, ‘Feliz Navidad’ reminded me of my family, who are spending Christmas in Spain. The card made me feel how I’d want to feel when I received it.”
Congratulations to Lottie, Beatrice and Theo for their winning designs, and to all entrants for their fantastic festive creations!
