Lego Contest Out West Keeps Going!

Lego is a combination of two Danish words -- "leg" and "godt" -- which, when put together, mean "play well."When she opened Toy Town in downtown Casper, Wyoming during the 1980s, Dalene Lockhart hoped children in the area would play well after shopping at her store.

In 1988, the Lego company sent a promotional contest idea to Lockhart, who decided to try it out. The idea: Hold a Lego contest and see what kids come up with. Encourage creativity. Give prizes.More than 20 years later, Lockhart still helps children play well, and still holds a Lego contest each year.

"It was written up as a promotional thing, so we wanted to try it. And in the '90s we almost quit because there weren't many entries," Lockhart said. "But when we tried to stop it, we got a bunch of calls and decided to keep it going.

"The contest used to be held in July, but when the county fair moved, Lockhart decided to hold it during the last week of summer vacation. This year, judging will be on Aug. 15th.

Now, the contest receives about 80 to 100 entries each year."We've had a little bit of everything," Lockhart said of past contest entries. "We've had baseball games, where people set up a stadium and put in a little baseball scene.

One year someone made a model of a computer. It had the keys and a disk that went in and out, and a monitor made out of black Legos."She's also seen Eiffel Towers, bridges, space ships, cell phone models and birthday cakes."Last year, the winner was a castle," she said. "It was really elaborate."Kids are split into four age groups -- 6 and under, 7 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 and older.

First-, second- and third-place prizes will be given out for each age group, and every entrant will get some sort of smaller prize as well. An overall best-in-show prize will also be awarded.The only rules require that kids use their own Legos, and the final product can't be more than three square feet at the base, "just because we don't have that much room," Lockhart said.

Kids can work on their projects for as long or as little as they'd like."Some say they've been working all summer. Some go home and come back an hour later," Lockhart said. "Some people, as they get older, if they're really into it, they plan year-round."Most of all, kids need to be creative, she said.

"We look for use of color, stability and overall creativity. We look for kids to not use just a kit."
Author is Megan Lee, Star Tribune.