Stacy Quest, Sun City Mesquite resident, received a $50 gift certificate from the Mesquite Citizen Journal Editor/Publisher Barbara Ellestad for her first place photograph in the MCJ February photo contest. "She had her choice of certificates from two different local businesses," Ellestad explained. "She chose Ace Hardware as the store she wanted to shop in."

Quest described how she took her award winning photograph saying, "I took the picture on Jan. 26, at about five o'clock in the evening, directly across the street from our home in Sun City, Mesquite. My husband, knowing my love for photography, and always looking to capture that 'once in a lifetime' photo had just gotten home and told me about the Chucker being across the street. I grabbed My Canon Power Shot SX10 IS 10.0 megapixel, 20x optical zoom camera and started shooting pictures. I probably took over thirty photos and weeded out the bad to get to my top ten photos. What truly amazed me was my ability to get within eight feet of the Chucker and they just seemed to want to pose for the camera."
"Mesquite's mild winter climate and small town friendly atmosphere were just a couple of persuasive factors in our decision to buy our home in 2008. We are native Northern Nevadan's who enjoy the great outdoors and with Zion, Bryce Canyon, Whitney Pockets, Kolob Canyon, Valley of Fire, and so much more basically one to three hours away, Mesquite is truly Nevada's best kept secret," Quest added.

"It was a lot of fun seeing all the photographs our readers submitted in the inaugural contest. I hope we get even more in the coming months," Ellestad remarked.

Photographs must be submitted by the 15th day of the month in order to compete. Voting by MCJ readers begins on the 15th day until the last day of the month. See MCJ Photo Contest Rules for more details.