Entries are now being accepted for the 2022 Princeton Junior Woman’s Club Baby Contest. Entrants must be Bureau County residents under 24 months of age as of Sept. 9.

Contest entries must be emailed to princetonjuniors@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10.

To enter, email a high resolution, snapshot sized color photograph of the child to princetonjuniors@gmail.com. Please refrain from entering photos that have been cropped or altered.

No professional photographs will be accepted. The email must also include the following: child’s name, sex, birthdate, current age, parents’ name, parents’ addresses and two phone numbers.

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Emilia Jean Stuart - 17 month old daughter of Kurt and Elizabeth Stuart (La Moille, IL) (Photo Provided by Gail Jagers)

In person voting will begin at noon Friday, Aug. 12, to noon Friday, Sept. 9. The voting canisters will be displayed at Midland States Bank – South Branch (Aug. 12-19), First State Bank (Aug. 19-26), Central Bank (August 26-Sept. 2) and Heartland Bank – South Branch (Sept. 2-9).

The canisters will be moved on Fridays. Each child will have a canister with his/her corresponding photograph in which votes can be placed.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, PJWC has added the option of using Venmo to collect votes. To vote through Venmo, send your chosen transaction amount to @Trisha-Schafer-1. Voters must include the baby’s name in the “What’s it for?” line. Venmo votes will only be accepted from noon on Friday, Aug. 12, to noon Thursday, Sept. 8.

One dollar equals 100 votes. All votes will be tallied, winners will be notified on Sept. 9 and introduced during that evening’s Homestead Festival awards ceremony.

Prizes will be given to the boy and girl winners, as well as the boy and girl runners up. All winners and their parents will have a spot in the Homestead Festival parade on Saturday.

The Princeton Junior Woman’s Club donates all the proceeds from this contest back to communities and organizations within Bureau County through various projects carried out by the club.