Ever Win A Non-Athletic Contest Or Lottery?

Damaged Goods

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Location
Maryland
One of mom’s sisters entered me in a toddler photo contest in which I placed first and won a Shetland pony. Mom rejected it in favor of the 2nd place prize, a Roadmaster bike. Aunt and Nana were outraged at her action.

Mom calmly explained that city ordinances didn’t allow ponies or horsies in backyards. They fired back that the pony could be boarded. Mom explained that as a young family starting out after WWII, we were barely able to afford room, board, food, and clothing for ourselves.

They were still not mollified. Nana and her fave daughter could be quite unreasonable, but the bike wasn’t such a good idea either. It had a 26” wheelbase and sat in the backyard covered with a tarp before I could handle it. It deteriorated by then.

Wonder what 3rd place prize was?

Fast fwd.

5th grade speling – er, spelling – bee. All the boys collapsed and so it was moi against 10 or so girls whom I mowed down, one-by-one. My reward was a ho hum shrug from the biased nun.

Two wins but no prizes.
 

Never, but those are fun stories, Damaged!

Jeepers, a Shetland Pony, what a prize that was. Too bad aunt and nana didn't put their money where their mouths were, and pick up any/all boarding expenses for the little pony.

I have a sneaking suspicion that had your mom challenged them with such, both would have quickly come to their senses. :)
 
Never, but those are fun stories, Damaged!

Jeepers, a Shetland Pony, what a prize that was. Too bad aunt and nana didn't put their money where their mouths were, and pick up any/all boarding expenses for the little pony.

I have a sneaking suspicion that had your mom challenged them with such, both would have quickly come to their senses. :)
Good idea Marg, but the normally quick-thinking mom dropped the ball this time by not challenging them.
 

My brother (though now that I think of it I don't understand why it was my brother and not all three of us kids - another of those questions I wish I'd asked my parents when they were alive) won a little kid type race car in a drawing at the local mall.
Only thing I remember winning was a jar of candy in second grade for having the closest guess of the number of pieces in the jar.
 
Having a pony isn't like getting a kitten. You won't believe this, but ponies eat like a horse. And if you can even find it, boarding a horse is expensive. It's a 24/7 job. And it ain't cheap. Quite frankly, a pony for the first prize in a photo contest sounds like a good way to get rid of caring for the animal.
 
Won second place in a Cute Child photo contest at work.

Won a round at a "turkey shoot" at the Rifle Club picnic; $5.00 prize

Won at a Bingo game many, many years ago. I think it was $10.00

Won a Dance contest
 
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I shared cutest costume honors with a co-worker at a work sponsored Halloween contest back in the mid 80's. I was dressed as Peter Pan but most people thought I was dressed as an elf. I forget what the co-worker was dressed as but she used to be a dancer for The Tubes so I found a tie with her to be an honor.
 
A church had a summer bible camp wanted kids to bring others from the neighborhood ...... my sister convinced many kids to attend for at least a day............ she won the prize of a 50 lb popcicle ................... made in container like a trash can with a broom handle .....
I have no idea why my mother let her "save" what we did not break off in pieces for everybody in the neighborhood ..... in a chest freezer
Spent a whole weekend later that summer scraping 1 inch layer of orange syrup off the bottom of that freezer..... it was awful since i was younger and smaller they placed me inside to clean it up,
 
I was a Toastmistress back in the day before women's liberation. Toastmistress is the same as Toastmasters but it was for women. One year I won speech contests on two levels and was sent to represent Oregon at the International Convention in Atlanta Georgia. That one I didn't win but it was a wonderful experience.
 


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