March 27, 2017 at 3:37 p.m.
CANtastic winners crowned Saturday at Rouman Cinema
CANtastic winners crowned Saturday at Rouman Cinema
By Kayla Thomason-
The creations on display included "Rapunzel's Tower" by United Methodist Youth Fellowship (Rhinelander First United Methodist Church), "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by Nicolet Wizards (Nicolet National Bank), "Follow the Yellow Brick Road to End Hunger" by Team Peeps (Peoples State Bank), "Shrek Out Hunger" by Team PeliCAN (Pelican Elementary School), "Leprechaun Pride: Making Hunger Disappear," by Pirates of the Canned Beans (NCSS), "Sebastian the Crab" by "Sea" hunger out! (Park City Credit Union), and "Jack and the Beanstalk: Taking a Giant Stomp on Hunger!" by Jacci and the Beanstalks (Ascension/Ministry Health Care).
Nearly 4,000 cans of food were used to construct the structures and the winners were announced Saturday at Rouman Cinema in Rhinelander.
UMYF Rapunzel's Tower won the Most Cans Used category with 1,065 cans. People's Choice went to Team PeliCAN, and Judge's Choice was Ascension/Ministry.
A total of 3,695 cans were used to build the structures and there were 244 cans donated via voting, for a total of 3,939 cans.
Organizers were pleased with the teams' hard work and the number of cans of food that will be donated to the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry as a result.
"This is very good, I think we're at almost 4,000 cans so that's pretty good," said RAFP executive director Guy Hanse. "At $1 a can, that's a $4,000 contribution."
Some of the designs were more intricate than other years, but several of the builders have participated in the past and are reaching for even more creative designs.
"I thought we had some very good structures this year," said RAFP volunteer Bill Vancos. "The judges had a good time judging, they were very complimentary, and I think everyone had fun doing it so we really like the whole thing. They were really good, we got a lot of positive comments on how nice they all looked so that was really good."
The judges said they were impressed with the ingenuity various teams employed, such as Methodist Youth Fellowship's use of syrup to represent the prince and princess (Mrs. Butterworth was dressed up) and braiding licorice for Rapunzel's hair; and Nicolet Wizards' use of Hodags.
"Next year we hope to have a little competition between groups, maybe school groups or church groups," Hansen said.
Lacy Santilli with Ascension/Ministry's Jack and the Beanstalk, was immensely pleased with her team's structure and proud to win Judge's Choice.
"We thought it was great, we put a lot of effort and time into it but it looks like the other groups did too so we're pretty proud and honored that they chose ours to be their favorite," she said, adding that she had fun creating the structure and was surprised by how many cans were used.
"We enjoy it, it's fun," she said. "It's a fun way to help the community. We enjoy getting together, we don't really realize how much we are donating but when they tell us how many cans people used then we realize how much we are donating," she added.
Santilli was thankful for everyone's participation and encourages others to try the contest next year.
"Thank you to everybody who donated to all the displays and hopefully we can have a good turnout again next year," she said.
Bart Kotarba participated in the building of Rapunzel's Tower, and he was surprised they used the most cans.
"We didn't know we had the most, but we worked really hard to collect a lot of cans," he said. "We were really motivated."
It was the team's first win in its three years of participation and Kotarba said they will build again next year.
As much fun as the build is, he knows it is very important.
"I think (this event is) really important because it brings awareness to the food pantry," he said. "It's a great way to collect canned goods for (the pantry) but to have people see what we have done and that there are ways that they can help," Kotarba said.
He thought the designs were fantastic and he enjoyed seeing what everyone came up with.
Amy Rogers, a third-grade teacher and part of Team PeliCAN Shrek, said five students worked on the build, and she chose by picking out of a hat.
The students came up with the design and did the work for their creation, she added.
"It was awesome, they learned that giving to the community is the way to go," she said.
This is a yearly project for her class and she was pleased to win People's Choice.
"It was awesome, we got the same (award) last year," she said.
Rogers acknowledged the school's support of this endeavor.
"Our Pelican school and staff really did it all for us," she said. "They got all the cans for us to make the display, they came and they voted, they were a really big part of the whole thing," she said.
Vancos enjoys seeing everyone having fun, but he doesn't forget how important this event is to the pantry.
"We can't lose sight of why we are doing this," he said. "This is just one of the many fundraisers, if you will, that we need to do to sustain the food pantry."
The pantry is averaging 600,000 pounds of food distributed each year. This is their 12th year in existence and by mid-year they expect to reach the 5 million-pound mark for distribution.
"It seems like an awesome amount," Vancos said. "In one hand it's so great that the community can respond in that way and support it, but it's also sad that the community needs that kind of support as well."
Vancos hopes more people give the event a try next year.
"I just encourage people to think about next year, possibly participating," he said, adding that it's a nice venue, people enjoy good banter and competition amongst one another.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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