Christmas Wishes coloring contest ends Tuesday

The WMI children’s coloring contest was first held in 2014 when 34 children displayed their artistic prowess.

Payton Roberts of Lakeside and Yecenia Mouser of Whiteriver were both named winners for their respective age categories, and this year, your children are being offered the same opportunity.

Entries for the White Mountain Christmas Wishes coloring contest will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Any parents, guardians or teachers hoping to submit children’s festive artwork must do so before the deadline.

This contest is open to children 3 to 12 years old. The coloring pages used for entry will then belong to the White Mountain Independent. The pages may be used in future publications or magazines. Most importantly, every entry received will be displayed on the walls of the offices at the White Mountain Independent and help spread the holiday spirit.

All entries must be a coloring page from the White Mountain Christmas Wishes magazine, which can be obtained for free at the WMI offices at 3191 S. White Mountain Road, Suite 3 in Show Low.

Children will have six festive pages to choose from for their entry. The Christmas Wishes magazines offers designs including a Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, a heavenly angel and Christmas trees, a few holiday penguins preparing their Christmas trees, a smiling elf putting presents underneath the tree, and of course, two pages of jolly ol’ Santa Claus himself.

Each page will ask for the child’s name, age and parents’ contact information so that they may be notified if they win. Prizes are available for first, second and third place, which will be decided by a panel of judges from WMI.

All winners will be notified on Dec. 16 and be featured in the White Mountain Independent and online on wmicentral.com on Dec. 20.

Linette Barnes and Tori Starns are waiting at the WMI front desk for all the amazing artwork from the area’s young and most talented artists.

Barnes recalled last year’s contest, saying, “We loved when the children came in to submit their colorings. I think we were more excited about adorning our office with their artistic talents. They covered all our front office walls!”

Starns related her recent experience about a little boy who came in to pick up a Christmas Wishes magazine so he could enter. She said, “It was so cute. His mother thanked us, and the little boy came up to our general manager and gave him a hug. It touched our hearts. That is the Christmas spirit that we enjoy.”

WMI General Manager Rick Nathan said, “What started as a big success is just getting bigger. Last year, we displayed about 200 entries in our WMI office, with this year promising to beat that. It’s a lot of Christmas fun, with prizes and plenty of warm, community spirit. The kids and our newspaper staff love to do it.”