Songwriting contest

This year will be the start of the annual Bob Kotta Memorial Maritime Songwriting Contest. We hope that this will bring new
maritime songs into the community. There will be a perpetual prize and individual awards for various categories. The theme
this year will be "Maritime Work in the 21st Century". We've selected some great local judges, namely

Dan Roberts: Maritime Musician and singer extraodinaire and an expert on maritime songs and the singing of them.
Wes Weddell: Co-founder of Puget's Sound Productions and one of the finer folk songwriters in the Pacific Northwest.
Jan Elliott-Glanister: Co-founder of the well known Celtic band Watch the Sky and member of the women's shanty group "Broadside".

UPDATE: The Judges have spoken, and we have winners! Here's what they had to say. "The response was impressive
for a first-time event, and even more remarkable was the depth of the songs submitted and the entries were very strong across the board". Our honorees:

WINNING SONG
"Catch and Release" - Jon Campbell (Narragansett, RI)

RUNNER-UP
"Born to Sail" - Ken McCann (Edmonds, WA)

SPECIAL MENTION (Best Parody)
"The 21st Century Menu" - Stephanie Bonsanti

We'll be presenting the winners at the festival on August 15th, and the winners will also get to present their songs at the
next two Northwest Seaport Shanty sings, so as to introduce them into the local lexicon. We hope that some of what is presented will become maritime music our era.