Winners Read Winning Entries at the January 10 Meeting of the Ventura County Writers Club

 The winners of the 12th Annual Ventura County Writers Club Short Story Contest have been announced. Each read their winning entry at the January 10 meeting of the Ventura County Writers Club (VCWC), which included a celebration reception following the presentation of awards and the readings. There were more than 100 entries in the contest, many from around the country.

The winners are:

First Place: Bill Stermer of Camarillo, CA for The Last Speed Run
Second Place: Roni Hooper of Camarillo, CA for Holding Onto Hawaii
Third Place: Sheli Ellsworth of Thousand Oaks, CA for Lynchburg Correctional, 1845

Honorable Mention: Carol Fogel of Thousand Oaks, CA
Honorable Mention: Frank Leupp of Camarillo, CA
Honorable Mention: Jan Schulman of Oxnard, CA

The first place winning entry was published in the January 8th edition of the Ventura County Star and the first, second and third place winning entries are published in the online edition of the paper. Three editors at the newspaper acted as the final judges, selecting the three cash winners and three honorable mentions.

"We welcome the public to celebrate our local winners," said Kate Sexton, President of VCWC. "Each year the crowd grows as the community comes out to congratulate our winners and listen to their winning short stories. The club appreciates the continued support of The Ventura County Star, for judging the finalists and publishing the winning story."