CLEARFIELD – The great Clearfield County Fair will be here soon and with it will be the CAST Most Beautiful Baby Contest. The contest has been a part of the fair for many years. Most people can’t resist the urge to stop and admire all the beautiful babies entered in the contest.
Entries in the CAST Most Beautiful Baby Contest will be accepted at the CAST Building beginning on July 27 during regular business hours. Hours are Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Registration will also be held at the MBBC Booth at the Expo 2 Building on August 2, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There is a $3.00 registration fee payable at the time of registration. Each baby being entered must have his/her own can.
The requirements for entering the MBBC are: The child must be between the ages of birth to 36 months. Decorate an 11 oz coffee can or similar can, (please, nothing larger) complete with the baby’s picture and name. The parents’ names can also be placed on the can if so desired. It can be decorated in any way (tastefully) but it is important that the lid can be removed since the money is taken out and counted each night. Having a photo on a stick or a photo sticking out from the can is not permitted. There can be money in the can when brought in to register. Sometimes out of town relatives or neighbors might want to vote for the child and this allows them to do so.
Any amount of money can be dropped in the can and both coins and bills are welcome. Because the money is hand counted each night, putting pennies in the can is discouraged. “If a child wants to vote and drop a few pennies in, that’s cute,” said CAST Executive Director Ruth Loffredi. “But since we must count and double count each can each night, it takes a long time when mom or dad or another relative shows up with bags of pennies to dump in the can. So, those with large amounts of pennies are encouraged to convert them to larger denomination coins or to bills to place in the can.”
The MBBC Booth will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday with the exception of Saturday night when the booth will close at 8 p.m. for a final tally of the voting so the results can be posted at the MBBC booth, on the Expo 2 Door and the CAST side door.
Parents wishing to keep the MBBC cans (they make great banks) are welcome to pick them up at the MBBC booth after 8 pm on Saturday night or at the CAST Building the following week.
The three babies with the most money in the cans when amounts are totaled on Saturday night will each receive a beautiful engraved Trophy and each winner’s parents will receive tickets to opening night of the CAST September live theatre production of Breaking Legs. Winners will be notified by phone and asked to go to the CAST Building at an appointed time for a photo and trophy and tickets presentation.
All money received in the cans benefits CAST, the areas center for performing and visual arts. For more information on CAST, visit the Web site.
Anyone with questions is welcome to call the CAST office at 765-4474 during weekday business hours and speak with Sue or Ruth.
The CAST Building is located at 112 E. Locust Street in downtown Clearfield.
