Newspaper on Vacaton

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Sally Farrell of Merrill sent in this photo from her daughter's wedding March 28 in Bahia de Banderas, Mexico. Jessica Farrell was wed to Patrick Tryon at the Palladium Resort and Royal Suites. Also shown are attendants Christine O'Neil and Tammy White. Jaiden Farrell, the bride's niece, was ring-bearer. Photo Provided
Dee Brown, a former Press-Republican staff writer, and husband Bill, are pictured in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. Photo Provided
Betsy and Jay Brooks of Point Au Roche visited Cameroon, Africa, early this year to visit their son Ben, who was serving in the Peace Corps. Ben arranged for the whole family to have Cameroonian outfits made by a local tailor. The family took this photo at the mountain resort Villa Kleber near the town of Bare, where they stayed in traditional African huts called bukarus. "Ironically, the concrete lion in the picture was as close as we got to seeing African wildlife, because this part of Western Africa is very urbanized. We saw more chickens and goats than anything else!" Betsy Brooks wrote. Photo Provided
Richard and Susan Dandrow of Plattsburgh took their family on an Alaskan vacation this summer. Here Richard presents his Press-Republican to a wild grizzly at Lake Clark National Park. Photo Provided
Laura Jennings of Cadyville shows her joie de vivre in Paris, mirroring the Eiffel Tower for photographer and husband Howard. Photo Provided
Nancy Olsen of Cumberland Head took a somewhat imaginary vacation on this blue-sky February day. Here, she imagines completing a solo ascent of this, yet-to-be-named North American peak, carrying both the American and the Norwegian flags, remembering those early explorers Leif Ericson, Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. In truth, the photo was taken on a snow pile in the Champlain Centre parking lot. "My Norwegian cousin said not having a climbing rope was a give away," she wrote. Olsen won the random drawing award in our contest. Photo Provided
Lindsay and Katie Davison of Plattsburgh were standing a bit too close to Iceland's Strokkur geyser when a surpisingly large eruption burst forth. We're glad Lindsay quickly saved her newspaper. Don Davison submitted this entry. Photo Provided
Nancy Sherman of Morrisonville submitted this photo from a trip to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with her sister, Susan Nichols. Photo Provided
Evelyn Sanger of Plattsburgh shared her newspaper with a curious giraffe outside Nairobi, Kenya. Photo Provided
Ben, Olivia and Claire Keever (left to right) hold the Press-Republican cruising on the Thames with London's Big Ben and Palace of Westminster in the background. The Keevers are from Plattsburgh, and this photo was submitted by their dad, Rob. Photo Provided
Jim and Anne Bailey of Plattsburgh brought their Press-Republican to rainy Juneau, Alaska. Here they are standing near Nugget Falls, with the Mendenhall Glacier in the background to the left. Mendenhall is near Juneau. Photo Provided
Dan Rillahan of Mooers shares his newspaper with bovine natives of the Italian Alps. This photo, taken by Giorgia Tronci, was the judges' choice as the best photo of this year's entrants. Photo Provided

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October 23, 2011

North Country vacationers travel the world with their papers

GERIANNE WRIGHT Press-Republican The Press Republican Sun Oct 23, 2011, 06:24 AM EDT

Q: Of all the vacation spots represented in the 2010-11 Newspaper on Vacation photo contest, which destination had the most submissions?

A: I don't know, but Al-ask-a. Get it? I'll ask ya? Alaska? Okay, it's a lame joke, but seven of the 54 entries hailed from Alaskan vacations, nearly 13 percent. Nothing else came close as a single-destination vacation.

The Caribbean boasted six entries, but those were from cruises with stops in Curacao, the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands, among others.

Italian Alps win

Aside from Caribbean vacations, Italy, with three photos of readers and their newspapers, topped the country with most entries, including the Press-Republican judges' choice winner, Dan Rillahan, who submitted a photo of himself with a herd of bovine natives of the Italian Alps behind him.

"My stepdaughter, Caitlin Kozak, and I took a trip this summer for two weeks to Italy, France and Switzerland … to visit our former exchange student, Maura Tronci, who lives in Western Italy," Rillahan said. His first time entering the contest, Rillahan said he thought bringing the paper would "add extra adventure to our trip. After seeing last year's great winner with the penguins (by frequent contributors, Bob and Bunny Adler), we thought we would have some fun with it."

Rillahan's photo, taken by Maura's sister, Giorgia, shows a curious cow peering over his shoulder at the paper.

"Caitlin and I took some great pictures on the trip … including the Press-Republican in places like Rome, Florence, Turin, Monte Carlo and Bern. Just by chance, on the day we went hiking near the French border in the Italian Alps … we came upon a meadow that looked like something out of the 'Sound of Music,'" he said.

"In the meadow there was a herd of beautiful, bell-wearing white Alpine cows."

Rillahan took several shots himself with Caitlin, Maura, Giorgia and their brother, Palo.

"(But) as we got ready to leave, Giorgia said to me, 'Your turn.' I think (the cows) liked the way I smelled, because they soon gathered around me as she took one, single picture," he said. That proved to be the winner.

"I wanted the kids to have the best picture, but they convinced me the one with the reading cow was the one to send."

From Egypt to Ecuador

In addition to Italy, the Press-Republican received two photos each from sites in Turkey, Ireland, Egypt and France. Iceland, Germany, England, Costa Rica, Iraq, Mexico, Japan, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands all had one entry apiece. Canada was represented, both by visitors to Quebec.

The continent of Africa had two entries — one from Kenya, the other from Cameroon.

Nancy Sherman of Plattsburgh visited the City of Lights with her sisters, Susan Nichols of Lake George and Kathy Hastings of Charlotte, N.C. Two of the three donned black berets to get in the Parisian mood, but Hastings — having forgot her chapeau — was relegated to photographer.

"I have five sisters," Sherman said. "In the 1990s, several of us took a trip every summer with our now-deceased mother. We did U.S. trips to San Francisco, Washington, New York City, Williamsburg and Cape Cod. When our mother became ill with lung cancer, the trips ended."

In 2010, three of them decided to resume their travels, heading to London last September.

"This year, we decided on Paris; next year we may go to Spain. Besides enjoying the tourist sites, we enjoy the food and wine flavors of the country as well as the shopping, of course," she said.

Although visits to foreign shores far outweighed trips across the United States, eight states were represented, with the aforementioned Alaska topping the list. New York state had the next highest, with four entries. The random-drawing winner was among those from the Empire State. Nancy Olsen, who submitted a photo last year taken in Manitoba, Canada, entered a photo of herself atop a snow bank, American and Norwegian flags billowing — in the Champlain Centre parking lot.

Florida vacation photos came in third with three entries followed by Hawaii with two entries. Texas, South Dakota, Montana and a Grand Canyon vacation — no state was given — had one submission each.

"Although the number of entries hasn't increased over the last few years, the proportion of good email entries has increased," said Jack Downs, contest coordinator. "People are getting better using digital cameras and they are getting better cameras. We look forward to more of the same for next year's contest, which will begin soon."

Winners this year — the judges' choice and random drawing — will each receive $50 restaurant gift certificates. Other vacation contest photos can be seen on the Press-Republican website.

If the photos inspire you, grab your paper and go on vacation. The 2011-12 Newspaper on Vacation contest is under way.