The 2006 - 2007 5th Annual Festival of Lighthouses Contest winners were announced at a reception held at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT. January 18, 2007.

The holiday display at the Aquarium ran from November 18th, 2006 to Jaunuary 16th, 2007.

Entrants ranged from the whimsical (one of last year's winners was a SpongeBob SquarePants Lighthouse) to the realistic and visitors to the Aquarium cast ballots for their favorite lighthouse.

Our Cape Hatteras Lighthouse replica was entered as one of the 26 lighthouses in this year's contest and was the only replica of an actual lighthouse to win one of the 6 prizes.

"Chosen by visitors to The Maritime Aquarium, who cast nearly 8,000 votes between November 18 and January 16, the winning lighthouses span a wide variety of styles from accurate depictions of actual lighthouses to more artistic and abstract creations.  And the winners are:

• First Place: John Sudell of Greenwich for “Kaleidoscope,” an intricate stained-glass lighthouse;
• Second Place: Michele Howard, Alicia Seda, Christine Flanigan and Irene Benny of The Ursaline School in New Rochelle for “The Light in the Attic,” a whimsical tree-house style lighthouse;
• Third Place:  Ed Kusinski of Trumbull for “Cedar Shoals,” his lighthouse model sided with cedar shingles;
• Fourth Place: Pamela Riley-Abear of Stamford for “Pelican Island Lighthouse,” a creative and crafty lighthouse topped with a ceramic pelican;
• Fifth Place: Steven Wright of Yorktown Heights for his detailed “Cape Hatteras” lighthouse reproduction;
• Sixth Place: Moeba K. Nsenga, Kenza Moubchir and Brian Miranda of Bassick High School in Bridgeport for “Bassick Lighthouse Museum,” a high-tech inspired lighthouse with a purpose." (Excerpt from The Maritime Aquarium Web Site)

Visiting the Maritime Aquarium is always a great experience where you can watch the Seals and Otters swim and play in their tanks as well as get close to Fish, Sharks and Turtles without getting wet! It's a great destination for a family outing and easily accessable from Route I 95 in Norwalk, Connnecticut.

Please visit the Maritime Aquarium web site for more information, hours and directions at: http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/index.html