RIVER CITY JOURNAL: THIS IS IT: YOUR NAME IS IN THE EDITOR'S COLUMN

The great fruitcake contest was filled with winning entries, giving the editor a solid week of fruitcake, fruitcake, fruitcake.

You would think that anyone who has spent a solid week on a steady diet of fruitcake would be tired of the subject by now.

But, like an endurance athlete, I was well-prepared for the daunting -- and delicious -- task of judging the Look! Your Name Is in the Editor's Column contest. As you will recall, last week I urged readers to send me fruitcakes. In return, I promised to pick a winner and put that person's name in this very column.

Before I announce the winner, let me first describe to you what a week of eating fruitcake is like.

The early-bird entries started showing up on my desk just hours after last week's column was delivered. Soon, my desk was a virtual sea of fruitcake, with the heavy aroma of baked goodies -- and an occasional whiff of sterner stuff -- filling my office.

Knowing that the task before me was to taste, compare and taste again every fruitcake that came it, I set about my welcome chore immediately.

Am I sick of fruitcake? Not at all. As a matter of fact, I was just getting warmed up when the deadline -- noon on Christmas Eve -- arrived.

As an aside, let me tell you that I think fruitcake has deep religious roots that many of you may not aware of. That part in the Bible about Moses and his gang wandering around in the wilderness until they ran out of picnic supplies is what I'm talking about. God saw to it that they were well fed, sending manna from heaven. All the weary travelers had to do was pick up the manna off the ground. I'm convinced that manna was the largest batch of fruitcakes ever assembled in one place. No, I don't have any proof. On the other hand, I'm still waiting for someone to prove I'm wrong.

OK. It's time to put somebody's name in my column, as promised. But here are the facts of the matter. There were so many excellent fruitcakes entered that I can't possibly limit myself to just one winner. Therefore, I have created categories in the great fruitcake contest. And may I have the envelopes, please:

-- ROSALIND VOGEL wins in the Dark Fruitcake category. It is full of figs, currants, raisins, apricots, prunes and dates (that's just the fruit; there are plenty of nuts and spices). Rosalind had the presence of mind to send an entire fruitcake, which also helped in the judging portion of the contest. And on top of that, she nestled the cake in a plastic container with a seal-top lid, guaranteeing long-lasting freshness. How thoughtful. She also included a copy of her recipe, which is quite long, but I'd be happy to mail it to anyone who would like it.

-- ADELAIDE PARSONS is the winner in the Sentimental Favorite category. A sample of her delicious fruitcake was accompanied by a wonderful note: "If you like this, I'll give you a whole one! It was in Tom Harte's column recently. My grandmother sold it at Vandeven's to earn $ in the Depression. I used it to woo Bob (my spouse). Enjoy!" Well, I certainly did enjoy. And knowing the history of the cake made it even more special. Bob, I hope you appreciate your wife's fruitcake.

-- EDNA PATTERSON is a winner in the Orange Slice Cake category. Actually, she won second place, but there's a pretty darn good reason she didn't win first place. See, my mother has been making Orange Slice Cake for years for the holidays, and I told her she couldn't enter -- not because she's my mother, but because there isn't any fruit in Orange Slice Cake, just orange-slice candy. After Edna entered her Orange Slice Cake, I decided what the heck. I immediately awarded first place to my mother in this category, with Edna Patterson being a very close second -- delicious! -- and I'm sure she understands how I might be influenced in judging this particular category.

-- BETH GLAUS takes the prize in the Relative of an Employee category. She is related to the Southeast Missourian's news editor, John Ramey. I would have to say that her moist, fruity and colorful fruitcake comes closest to what most folks think of as the traditional fruitcake out of all the entries I received. The candied fruit was packed into this fruitcake, with more cherries (my favorite) than anything else.

-- JACKIE SPROAT takes the cake when it comes to the Employees Who Are Just as Shameless as the Editor category. Jackie is the editor of our sister newspaper in Marble Hill. She said she decided if I could shamelessly ask readers to bake me fruitcakes, she could give me one and hope it made points during her performance review. (It will.) I must confess that when Jackie warned me about the pumpkin in her fruitcake, I was more than a little dubious. That lasted until I took the first bite. What a treat! My wife, who loves pumpkin anything, agreed that Jackie's fruitcake was delicious. It always helps in the judging when the wife of the contest's one and only judge likes a particular entry.

There you are. Everyone who entered was a winner in my book. And there was not a single bad fruitcake in the whole lot.

Fruitcake cooks, you are wonderful people who owe it to future generations to keep on cooking fantastic fruitcakes. And don't forget to share. Remember, it is better to give than to receive. And keep in mind you are upholding a tradition that goes all the way back to Moses. How many fudge makers can make that claim?

Happy holidays to one and all, but may the season be especially wonderful for anyone who still loves to make and eat fruitcake.

~R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.