The 2014 “Poetry on the Wall” event was celebrated with a reception, poetry reading and announcement of the winners at the Q Gallery in the Franklin Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 8. At the start of the reception, the gallery was filled to standing room with over 70 in attendance. All 52 submitted poems were posted on the four walls of the gallery for all to see and read. The program began with an introduction of contest judge Penelope Swan by Krista Rolfzen Soukup of the Blue Cottage Agency, located in Brainerd. Ms. Swan explained her process as contest judge, in which she evaluated 52 submitted poems. She remarked that she was impressed by the quality of the poems and would be glad to meet the winners at the end of the reception. Twenty one poets then each read one of their submitted poems; those reading included Ruth Boldan, Carol Campbell, Charmaine Donovan, Carole Eliseuson, John Erickson, Audrae Gruber, Laura Hansen, Kathy Hegstad, Charles Johnson, Kathy Krueger, Pat Mortenson, Dan Noss, Bob Passi, Kate Perkins, Sue Ready, Orphie Anderson Shellum, Candace Simar, Susan Smith-Grier, Joel Soukup, Doris Stengel and Bonnie Tinnes. Following the readings, the audience voted on their favorite poem of all 52 entries. 
As the votes were tallied, guest speaker Sheila O’Connor spoke of her career as a writer. Following Ms. O’Connor, Ms. Soukup and Ms. Swan announced the winners as selected by Judge Swan. The third place poem, “Responding to a Facebook Message I Set Out to Write a Poem that Heals’ by Laura Hanson of Little Falls. Second place went to a poem by Charles Johnson, Brainerd, entitled “A Blunt Opinion about Opinions”. First place went to Brainerd resident Doris Stengel for her work “Homage”. To conclude the reception, the People’s Choice award went to Susan Smith-Grier for her poem “Tranplanted”.
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HI KRISTA!!!/MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM CAROLE E 15 FREE…
MY JOURNEY INTO THE HUGE WORLD WITH 15 FREE WEBSITES WITH VISTAPRINT & BING/MICROSOFT…FROM MAY 30, 2008 UNTIL TODAY & WANT TO THANKS U FOR THIS 2014 CHALLENGE 2 ALL POETS IN THE BRAINERD LAKES AREA…I WROTE MY POEM…’DESSERT’…NEARLY 10
YEARS AGO & THANKS 2 U …SHOWN AT THE FRANKLIN ALONG WITH MANY OTHERS…U GAVE ME A CHANCE TO
WRITE IT/SHOW IT/SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD!’/WE
STARTED ABOUT THE SAME TIME & I KNOW U HAVE BEENVERY SUCCESSFUL WITH BLUE COTTAGE!/IT’S NOW 11 AMen…THE 2ND DAY OF DECEMBER WITH APPRECIATION FOR ALL U HAVE DONE 4 ME!/MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS.ENJOYING BOTH SANTA &
MY FAITH_______!’/CE/WELCOME WORLD…IF U CAN WIGGLE YOUR NOSE & YOUR TOES AT THE SAME TIME…U
HAVE PASSED MY TEST!..LAUGHTER & COMMON SENSE WILL RETURN ONE DAY…’IT JUST TAKES…tiMEEEEE!’/CE