Attention native Illinois residents, Submissions for the Metra’s “Sixth Annual Safety Contest” ended March 15, 2012. Hmm? What is the Metra Safety contest you ask, and what is Metra? Well to answer both questions, Metra is a native Illinois train transportation company, and this “Safety Contest” is to educate and promote railroad safety awareness to make school children safer around trains. Metra has had this annual contest since 2006, which is held throughout six Illinois counties: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will. Each year they have a different theme for their posters, this year’s theme was “Lead the Way.” They encourage students K-12 to express creativity through a safety poster. If you are not an artist, then you can write an essay about the importance of railroad safety. One winner from each grade group for the essay will be awarded an ipad: (grades K-4), (grades 5-8) and (grades 9-12). There will be a first, second, and third place winner K-12 students for the Safety Poster Contest, so everyone has a chance to win! The prizes are worth it, first prize this year was an Apple Ipad, and the year before was a laptop. but what remains the same is the second place prize of $250, and third place prize of $100 gift card. What a great deal! People with great artistic talent will have no problem winning this contest! The posters, or essays have to conform with the rules on the website: http://www.metracontest.com/ Unfortunately, the contest does not start till next fall. There is also a “People’s Choice Award” for the first Place Poster Winners K-12 where the public can vote for their favorite poster. The winner of the “People’s Choice Award” will receive an additional $250 for their efforts. This year Metra decided to open up online voting to enable more people to participate. Rather than in the past displaying posters each day for a week at a different location at their five most frequented downtown train stations limited the number of commuters able to cast their votes. The online voting for the “People’s Choice Award” ended July 13, 2012. The winners of the 2011-2012 Metra Safety Poster Contest and the “People’s Choice Award” are to be announced in the fall. I hope to see at least one Lego themed Metra poster…
**The deadline for the People’s Choice Award has been extended to August 13th 2012, here is another chance to vote for your favorite poster!**
When a young boy named James Groccia wanted the Lego 10194 Emerald Night train 2 years ago, his parents told him to save up the money to buy it himself. By the time he had saved $100 for the train, it was discontinued by Lego. He still wanted the train, but he could not find it in the Lego store or Lego Shop at Home. On Amazon and eBay they were being sold as collectibles for $250. He did not want to save for another several years to buy it, so on September 1st, 2012, he decided to write Lego to see if they had any spares he could purchase from them. Lego initially wrote back to James saying they could not do anything for him. But Lego was impressed that James had spent two years to save up money for the train set, and did not want to let him down. Much to his surprise, a package was sent to him on October 17th. The family made a video of his reaction. It warmed my heart to see the young boy have his dream fulfilled. The gift of giving is no longer for December alone. Go see the video for yourself:
