The inaugural Boulder City Review Christmas coloring contest showcased the best of the holiday spirit from community members of all ages.
In light of state restrictions and out of an abundance of caution, the BCR canceled its annual Christmas Cookie and Candy Contest and held a Christmas coloring contest instead.
There were 33 entries received for three age groups: 4-7, 8-12 and 55 and older.
Saylor Wilkinson, 4, earned first place for how she colored the picture of a dinosaur. She said her favorite color is blue, so she drew blue snow around the dinosaur. She also colored one of its legs gray because she said it stepped in some mud.
Wilkinson’s mom, Chelsea West, said she did not help her with the coloring and it was “100 percent” her daughter’s original design.
For the 8-12-year-old division, Christian Mojado earned first place for his Santa Claus inspired picture of bighorn sheep.
He said it was a “spur of the moment” decision to enter.
“I did it in 20 minutes,” he said of the picture.
His design included one sheep dressed like Santa Claus and another with peppermint horns.
“In art in sixth grade, they taught us to do dark to light,” he said. “I thought of Rudolph and Santa.”
Mojado, 12, is a seventh grader at Garrett Junior High School. He said his favorite subject in school is reading.
Barbara Garris earned first place in the 55-and-older age division.
“I wasn’t going to do this, but with everything going on … I thought, why not?” she said.
Garris said she learned how to color from nuns when she was in Catholic grade school, and used those techniques for her winning picture in this contest. She also said she hadn’t colored anything since she was a child.
“This is completely ironic because I haven’t picked up a crayon in … years,” she said about her win.
Garris said she chose to keep the colors of her design traditional and said the time she spent coloring helped her deal with the sixth anniversary of her husband’s death, a recent surgery and the pandemic.
“It was a great stress relief from all that,” she said.
Each first-place winner was awarded a $25 gift card and a blue ribbon. The second-place winners were awarded red ribbons.
All of the entries will be displayed at the Boulder City Review, 508 Nevada Way, Suite 1.
Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.