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Stecker earned $225 for receiving the fifth-most votes from aquarium visitors during the holiday display, which was from Nov. 21 through Jan. 18 and featured 22 large model lighthouses built by local artists, students and hobbyists.
Stecker has been successful each year she has entered the contest, taking home prize money for fifth place last year, third place in 2013 and second in 2012 – always with dollhouse-themed lighthouses. Her “North Pole Lighthouse” is a highly detailed four-story dollhouse, this time with a Christmas motif. Included is a fully furnished – and holiday-decorated – first-floor kitchen, Santa’s workshop on the second level, third-floor living room and fourth-floor bedrooms.
More than 11,500 votes were tallied in the most recent display, which attracted a collection of widely creative works. At a ceremony Thursday at The Maritime Aquarium, five other prizes also were awarded from the voting:
- First place ($1,500) – “Surviving the Storm” by Robert Keene of Darien
- Second place ($750) – “Tiki Island Lighthouse” by Brett Almstead of Ridgefield
- Third place ($375) – “Fairy Lighthouse” by Bob Hemond of Trumbull
- Fourth place ($300) – “Fieldstone Tower” by Pedro Davila of White Plains, N.Y.
- Sixth place ($150) – “Droste Point: The Lighthouse Within” by Nancy Todd of West Haven
Hemond also won an additional $500 for winning the exhibit’s “Facebook Favorite” vote conducted online.
“We congratulate the winners, and thank all 22 contestants whose creativity and efforts added a bright and festive cheer to The Maritime Aquarium through the holiday season,” said Chris Loynd, the aquarium’s marketing director. “Because of them, the real winners were the aquarium’s visitors.”
Click here to see photos of all the winning lighthouses.
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