MC Chamber appreciates all the participation
By Barb Pert Templeton
When Marine City Chamber of Commerce Director Laura Merchant decided to debut a bunny decorating contest for area businesses, she wasn’t sure what the response might be.
Then her Facebook post announcing the contest quickly picked up 8,000 views and the contest was off and running.
Soon area businesses started lining up to purchase a bunny to decorate, paying a $35 registration fee, and the only guidelines were that the businesses or non-profits name be front and center on the bunny.
This was the bunny created by St. Clair Community Mental Health which took second place in the recent competition.
“The businesses were calling and saying they were looking for something fun to do and any business, even those not in the chamber, could buy a bunny,” Merchant explained in a recent phone interview.
The wooden creations were made with donated wood from the local Lumber Jack store and Marine City resident James Cottrell donated his time and talents to carving each bunny image.
When the deadline for displaying the bunny creations arrived Merchant said they had 22 participating businesses showing off their unique rabbits.
“They have created the most creative, colorful, and personality-filled bunnies, and now it’s time to explore them all around town,” Merchant announced in a Facebook post in mid-March.
The public was invited to take a stroll through Marine City to visit each participating shop to snap photos with their favorite bunnies and then post the photo online with a tag to the business where they saw them.
A third-place win went to Ruby Tattoo for their unique bunny creation.
Merchant even posted a list of the participating businesses on the chamber Facebook page to make visiting the bunnies easier. It included: Amy’s Relation To Creation & Botanicals, Bewitching Stitching Embroidery & Design, Black Guard Reserve, By The Water Thrift, Eastern Michigan Bank, Empowered Nutrition, FB Package and Shipping Center, Gars, H&R Block, Little Bubble Man, Mad Hatter Coffee, The Mariner, Marine City Maritime Days Festival , MC Marketplace, Quarters MC Arcade, RiverSide-Gypsy, Ruby Tattoo, Sparkle Hut, St. Clair County Community Mental Health, The Painted Toad, Tranquility Salon and Spa, & Vera Mae’s.
The big winners
In creating the first ever bunny decorating contest Merchant also made things easy for voters. She posted a photo of each of the 22 entrants to the chamber Facebook page and visitors simply had to click like on their favorite rabbit. Voting ended on March 25 and three top vote getters were revealed.
“What an egg-citing way to hop into Spring here in Marine City. A huge congratulations to Empowered Nutrition for creating our winning bunny. Your creativity truly stood out and captured the hearts of our community,” Merchant wrote on Facebook.
Second place honors went to St. Clair County Community Mental Health and third was Ruby Tattoo.
The vote tallies were as follows:
Empowered Nutrition, a business in Marine City, won the bunny competition, picking up the most likes for their creation shared on Facebook.
305 likes for top vote getter, Empowered Nutrition, 294 likes for St. Clair Community Mental Health and 222 likes for Ruby Tattoo’s creation.
First place honors came with a $100 Visa gift card.
“We are so proud of the creativity across Marine City,” Merchant wrote. “Let’s celebrate creativity, community, and a little springtime fun in Marine City.”
She thanked all the businesses who participated and also took some time to thank everyone who voted, liked, shared and left comments about the various bunnies online.
When contacted by phone on April 2 Merchant said she was very pleased with the bunny decorating contest’s debut and looks forward to bringing it back to town each spring.
“It was just super cool,” Merchant said. “And now we invite people to come out and see all the bunnies.”
She said they will continue to be displayed around town through Easter weekend.
