For the very first time, entrants had the opportunity to donate their avian- inspired dwellings to be auctioned off to benefit Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity's 25th Anniversary House. Habitat's Communications Manager Ariane Kjellquist, "With half of the entries designated for donation to Asheville Area Habitat, participation exceeded our expectations. We are thrilled with the response and excited by the prospect of continuing and growing this partnership."

Entries hail mostly from the Southeast and as far away as Louisiana and Texas. For the first year, Lisa L. Conrad of Asheville, NC took home the coveted honor of first place in the adult division. Conrad's creation titled the "Oak Forest Inn" was constructed from a combination of tediously applied multi- glazed ceramic, with accents of wood and strips of leather. Fully- functional, the hanging structure cleverly incorporates oak leaf impressions for a unique multi-textured design.

Many other participants expressed their artful creativity with materials such as paper mache, twigs, gourds, various metals and rock- ranging in design from the classic, more traditional, to gallery- quality abstract.

Winners shared over $3,000 in cash and prizes. The judges this year, Charlotte Goedsche (President, Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society), Tammy Watford (WLOS-TV13), Chris Jaquette (Wild Birds Unlimited) and Patricia Lindsay (Gallery of the Mountains) took on the difficult task of narrowing the fielding to the top entries with the criteria based upon, overall appearance, originality, creativity and precision.

Two- time judge Patricia Lindsay, "I loved the fact that the breadth was a complete array, the simple to the complex, from the precision down to the execution."

This year's winners in three divisions:

Youth Category

• 1st Place - Shelby O. Morris- Beaufort, SC
• 2nd Place -Stephen Hendrix- Hendersonville, NC
• 3rd Place - Jenna N. Ross- Arden, NC

• 1st Place - Marshall A. Stamey- Asheville, NC
• 2nd Place- Kyle Fiehler- Arden, NC

• 1st Place - Lisa L. Conrad- Asheville, NC
• 2nd Place -David Poston- Rock Hill, SC
• 3rd Place - Howard L. Atwood- Barnardsville, NC

The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa is one of the South's most venerable and famous grand resorts. Built in 1913 from granite stones mined from Sunset Mountain, the resort overlooks the Asheville skyline and provides guests with majestic views of the legendary Blue Ridge Mountains. For more information, entry forms and official rules please visit www.groveparkinn.com or call 1-800-438-0050. Deadline for entries is March 31st.

For the past 25 years, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity has been building simple, decent houses for qualified families currently living in inadequate housing; homes are sold at no profit to partner families, who pay back a no-interest loan. For more information about the organization, or the birdhouse fundraising event, please contact Ariane Kjellquist at [email protected] or 828-251-5702.