HUBER TAKES GRAND PRIZE IN FOTO FEST

Cindy Huber had tears in her eyes when she learned her photograph was selected as the grand prize winner in Foto Fest 2000.

"I can't believe this," said Huber, of Perryville, Mo. "You really got me."

Huber's photograph of her son, Grant, 3, staring down a set of twin calves was chosen as the grand prize winner by a panel of judges. The photograph was taken on a family friend's farm.

Only photographs that had been chosen previously as semifinalists were considered for the grand prize selection. Other finalists were Kerry Kimmel of Perryville, Dawn Sander of Patton, Mo., Erica Hoeflinger and Don Haupt Jr., both of Cape Girardeau, and Kim Allen Stricker of Jackson, Mo.

Foto Fest 2000 is an amateur photography contest sponsored by the Southeast Missourian and Westfield Shoppingtown West Park. Other contest sponsors are St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, Mac's Smokehouse, Schnuck's and the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Huber was a semifinalist winner for four of the six contest weeks. She couldn't remember how many photographs she actually entered since many were repeats. "I saw the pictures and I am surprised because there were good pictures," she said of her selection as a grand prize winner.

She will receive one night's stay in a St. Louis hotel, a $50 Shoppingtown gift certificate, a $50 Shoppingtown gift certificate and a one-year subscription to the Southeast Missourian.

The other finalists each will receive a $25 Shoppingtown gift certificate, a 13-week subscription to the Southeast Missourian, a comic umbrella and a framed 8x10 copy of their entry.

Haupt jokingly said he would "take off and travel the world" now that he'd received such recognition for his work. Actually, he's planning an exhibit in Murphysboro, Ill., in January and has some prints on display at Europa's downtown.

"I'll just keep entering contests when I see them," he said.

His picture and Kim Allen Stricker's picture of a lightning strike in the sky were both chosen as semifinalists during the first week of the contest.

Kimmel's photograph of Resurrection Bay in Alaska was chosen as a semifinalist during the contest's final week.

Hoeflinger's photograph of her niece, Sherran, was chosen as a semifinalist in the fifth week of the contest. It was taken when the child was six months old.

The picture was "nothing fancy," Hoeflinger admitted but captures a moment.

"She was just acting cute and it looked like she was washing her hair but she's just mimicking," Hoeflinger said.

Dawn Sander captured a fire blazing during a controlled-burn training exercise. Sander is a member of the volunteer fire department at Sedgewickville, Mo.

"We take the pictures for training," she said, but when she saw the roll of film developed, she knew these pictures were different.

"It just looks so cool," she said. The fire was at an old farmhouse and no one was injured during the winter training exercise.

The Foto Fest 2000 contest ended Aug. 11 but a People's Choice award will be announced in coming weeks. Visitors to the mall can cast a ballot for their favorite photograph submitted during the six-week contest.

"That will be the popular winner and what the people want," said Joyce Hunter, marketing director for Westfield Shoppingtown.