1. Eligibility:  The 2019 Cutest Baby Contest is open to residents of the United States born on or after January 1, 2014 (under the age of five). Entries may be submitted by a parent, legal guardian or a grandparent with permission from the custodial parent. The Crescent-News reserves the right to verify proof of age.  Employees of APG Media and The Crescent-News, and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter or win.

2. How to Enter:  The cost to enter is $18.00 per child which also covers publication in the 2018 Smiling Faces Photo Album.   Entry forms can be found in editions of The Crescent-News and are available at The Crescent-News office.  To enter, return a completed form along with a photo of the child and entry fee to The Crescent-News, 624 W. Second St., Defiance, Ohio 43512.  Entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. Monday, January 28, 2019.  Make checks payable to “The Crescent-News”.  Entries can also be submitted online through the Cutest Baby Contest registration page at www.crescent-news.com.  Complete the entry form, upload a photo and complete the credit card payment information.  Finish by clicking the “SUBMIT” button. Entries: Fees for approved and verified photo entries are non-cancellable and non-refundable. All on-line payments will go through our Administrator Advanced Pre Press Technology Inc., Burbank, CA. Any charges incurred will show up as Online Contest-APT on your statement.

Limit one child per photo for contest entry. Photos of children age 5 and older and group photos of more than one child will not be entered in the contest but may be accepted for publication in The Crescent-News Smiling Faces supplement on Friday, March 15.  Photos with more than two children should be submitted at The Crescent-News office to determine space requirements and charges.

All photos should be of reproducible quality.  Images should be in focus and not grainy.   Kiosk and color printer copies cannot be accepted. Please write the baby’s name along with the name and phone number of the person submitting the entry on the back of the photo.  Printed photos can be picked up at The Crescent-News after the contest or will be returned if a self-addressed stamped envelope is provided.  Digital photos submitted online or emailed to The Crescent-News should be in JPG format and 240 dpi.

All entries will be posted on the contest website as they are received.  Entries with incomplete or incorrect information will not be accepted.  

3. Copyrights: Entering the contest authorizes The Crescent-News to place the baby’s name and photo, along with the parents’ names, on the contest web site and in the Smiling Faces supplement.  Photos taken by professional photographers must have a release form.  The contest entrant will assume all copyright infringement charges and legal consequences incurred from unauthorized use of a restricted photo.

4. Voting:  Voting is open to the general public, limited to persons 18 years of age or older.  Each vote costs 50 cents.  There is no limit to the number of votes a person can make.  Voting totals will be posted online as they are received.

Voting will be done in three rounds. The first round of voting will begin at 12:01 a.m. (EST) Thursday, January 31, 2019 and conclude at 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 11.  Votes may be submitted in-person or by mail at the Crescent-News office, or online.  Mailed and in-person votes must be received by 4:00 p.m. on February 11.  The top 50% of entries receiving votes during Round One will move on to the second round of voting.   VOTES FROM ROUND ONE DO NOT CARRY OVER TO ROUND TWO.  The second round of voting will begin 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, February 14 and end at 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 25.  Mailed and in-person votes must be received by 4:00 p.m. on February 25.   The top 50% of entries receiving votes during Round Two will move on to the third and final round of voting.   VOTES FROM ROUND TWO DO NOT CARRY OVER TO ROUND THREE.  The final round of voting will begin 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, February 28 and end at 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 11.  Mailed and in-person votes must be received by 4:00 p.m. on March 11. 

On-line votes may be cast at www.crescent-news.com using a valid credit card including MasterCard, Visa and Discover.  The minimum amount of votes purchased online with a credit card is $5.00.  Credit card transactions are non-cancelable and non-refundable. If your credit card is declined for any reason, no vote will be submitted on your behalf. All on-line payments will go through our Administrator Advanced Pre Press Technology Inc., Burbank, CA. Any charges incurred will show up as Online Contest-APT on your statement. Your computer must accept cookies which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking.  Ad blocking software on your computer needs to be disabled so it does not interfere with processing your entry.

Proceeds from voting will help support The Crescent-News’ Newspaper In Education Program in area schools.

5. Refund/Cancellation Policy:  All entry and voting fees are non-cancelable and non-refundable.

6. Prizes:  One Grand Prize winner will receive $1,000.00 and will have his/her photo published in color on the front cover of the 2019 Smiling Faces Edition.  The second place winner will be awarded $500.00.  The third place winner will be awarded $250.00.  Photos of the second and third place winners will be featured on the inside of the front cover.   The entrant receiving the most votes in Round Two will receive a gift certificate for a free family setting and 16”x20” portrait from Rod Brown Photography ($314 value).
 
7. Winner Determination, Notification and Acceptance:  The grand prize, second and third place winners will be the entries receiving the greatest number of votes IN THE FINAL ROUND of voting.  In the event of a tie, the prizes will be combined and divided equally among the tied entries.  Odds of winning depend on the number of entries and eligible votes received.  Winners will be notified on or about March 12, 2019, at the telephone number provided on the winner’s entry form.  Results are not final until all voting transactions by check or credit card have been approved.  Acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of his or her name, biographical information and likeness in any media for promotional purposes without further compensation.  A valid photo identification of the parent or legal guardian may be required.  Winners are solely responsible for reporting and paying of any taxes due on prizes.

8. Participation:  The 2019 Cutest Baby Contest is sponsored by The Crescent-News.   Entrants agree that all decisions of The Crescent-News regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the contest shall be final and binding. The Crescent-News reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this contest.

9. Privacy: As part of the registration process, End User will provide certain personal information to The Crescent-News. Except as provided herein, The Crescent-News agrees to use the End User individualized information only for internal purposes. The Crescent-News may, however, provide the End User information, in an aggregate form with the information of other End Users, to third parties, but only in such a way that the End User's individual privacy is protected. The Crescent-News may contact End User periodically to provide him/her with news, other information, or offers which it believes would be of interest to him/her. Opt-out mechanisms are available if End User prefers not to provide his/her information to third parties. All uses of End User information will be in accordance with the provisions of The Crescent-News's Privacy Policy.
10. Indemnification:  The Crescent-News will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage-due, misdirected or illegible entries or votes due to failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or The Crescent-News.   In the event the contest is compromised by a virus, tampering or other causes which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the contest, The Crescent-News reserves the right to suspend, modify or terminate the 2019 Cutest Baby Contest.   The Crescent-News will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these official rules or any other material regarding the contest.

If you have any questions regarding this contest, please telephone 419-784-5441 ext. 300726.