1. Eligibility. Subject to the additional restrictions below, the 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar Contest is open to residents of the State of MN, 18 years or older at the time of entry. Employees of The Free Press and CNHI media and each of their respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees, are not eligible to win.
                               
2. Contest Registration Period: Contest period begins at 12:00 a.m. (C.D.T), Thursday, October 1, 2009 and ends at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, November 20, 2009.

3. How to Enter. Beginning at 12:00 a.m. C.D.T., Thursday, October 1, 2009 and ending at 3:00 p.m. Friday, November 20th, 2009, enter by submitting a completed Entry Form, a photo of the baby and the $10 entry fee (cash, check, money order, credit card). Entries may be submitted by a parent, legal guardian or adult who is 18 years or older at the time of submission. Photo of the child must have been taken between the ages of newborn and prior to their 3rd birthday. Photo should be 6” wide or larger and digital photos should be in JPG format and 300 dpi. Only one photo per child per entry. Baby's first name, person submitting photo and phone number must be written on back of the photo. By submitting this information, the photo and entry form serves as a release for The Free Press to use the baby’s first name and photo in The Free Press print products and on its website. Checks for entry fee must be made payable to The Free Press. Photos become property of The Free Press and will not be returned unless requested and a S.A.S.E provided. Professional photographs must be accompanied by a release of permission by the photographer (a sample is available online), Kiosk and color printer copies cannot be accepted.

Online Entry: Visit the 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar Contest official registration page on The Free Press' website www.mankatofreepress.com . Complete the entry form, upload photo, submit form of payment for entry fee, and any other required fields and then submit your entry by clicking on the “SUBMIT” button. Your computer must accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking.

Mail or In Person Entry: Complete the entry form found in editions of The Free Press and available at The Free Press office located at 418 South Second St. Mankato, MN 56002. The entry form with the photo and entry fee can be mailed to The Free Press, "SM Baby Calendar Photos", P.O. Box 3287, Mankato, MN 56002. Entries can be dropped off at The Free Press office, 418 South Second St. Mankato, MN. In person entries must be received by 12:00 p.m. October 30, 2009. Mailed entries must be postmarked by October 28, 2009 and received no later than November 2, 2009. Fees for approved and verified photo entries are non-cancelable and non-refundable.

The Free Press reserves the right to verify proof of age. Multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) can be entered as one “baby photo” entry if all the children are in one photo. Entries with incomplete or incorrect information will not be accepted. Parent/guardian information may be verified by phone. Photos will not be posted until information is verified. Entry form photocopies are permitted. The Free Press will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage due, misdirected or illegible entries, or for 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 Free Press.
Photos will be published in The Free Press as space is available and on line during the voting period of October 30, 2009 to November 20, 2009 as they are received and verified. Photos may appear only once in The Free Press, but will remain online even as new photos are posted and throughout the voting period. The 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar featuring winning baby photos and event sponsors will be available free of charge at The Free Press.

4. Voting Procedures and Rules. The voting period will begin at 3:01 p.m.. (C.D.T.) Friday, October 30, 2009 and conclude at 3:00 p.m. (C.D.T) November 20, 2009. Votes may be made in person, mailed or submitted online. Mailed votes must be postmarked by Tuesday, November 17, 2009, and received on or before Friday, November  20, 2009. In person votes must be received by 2:00 p.m. (C.D.T.) Friday, November 20, 2009 and online voting will end at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2009. Voting totals will be posted online weekly.

Voting is open to the general public. Online voting is limited to persons 18 years of age or older. Vote for your favorite baby by submitting a voting ballot along with a 50¢ per vote fee to The Free Press. Each 50¢ donation will count as one vote. There is no limit on donation amounts. Your computer must accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking. Ad blocking software on your computer needs to be disabled so that it doesn’t interfere with processing your entry. A 10 vote minimum is necessary for online voting.  All Voting fees are non-cancelable and non-refundable.

The Free Press will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage-due, misdirected or illegible entries (either photos or ballots) or for 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 Free Press. Online votes may be submitted using a valid credit card including, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. (Min. $5.00 online charge.) Only valid, authorized credit card transactions will be considered as a legitimate vote. All authorized 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. In the event of a dispute, all online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated with such ISP account. All entries become property of The Free Press and none will be returned.

Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted or the owner of an ISP account shall be determined by The Free Press in its sole discretion, and The Free Press reserves the right to disqualify any entries by persons determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the contest

5. Winner Determination: Winners will be determined by total number of votes received. In the event of a tie, The Free Press will randomly pick the winner from the tied entries. Winners will be selected on or about November 21, 2009.

6. Prizes. Grand Prize: One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a one thousand five-hundred dollar ($1,500.00) U.S. Saving Bond and will have his/her photo published at the top of the 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar Poster. One (1) second place (runner up) winner will be awarded a thousand dollar ($1000.00) U.S. Savings Bond. Runner up and following eleven (11) winners will have their photo (one each) on the twelve months of the 2009 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar Poster. Remaining top vote recipients with at least 50 votes will also be included on the calendar. The Free Press will determine placement of the photos in the calendar in its sole discretion. The calendar will be available at The Free Press, 418 South Second St. Mankato, MN mid-December, 2009. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible votes received. Winners will be acknowledged in print in The Free Press and www.mankatofreepress.com.

7. Winner Notifications and Acceptance: All parents and/or legal guardians of winners specifically grant the right to The Free Press to publish the photo of their child in the 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Contest Calendar Poster. A valid photo identification of the parent or legal guardian may be required and a photo release must be executed. Winners may waive their right to receive prizes. Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and The Free Press reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Winners may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility/liability and publicity release (except where prohibited by law) which must be returned within ten (10) days of date of personal delivery or date of postmark. Failure to sign and return the affidavit or release within ten (10) days, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner’s disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a substitute winner. Except where prohibited, acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of his or her name, biographical information and likeness in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation the Internet, or further compensation. Prizes not won and claimed by eligible winners in accordance with these Official Rules will not be awarded and will remain the property of The Free Press. Winners will be notified on or about November 21, 2009 at the telephone number provided on the winner’s entry form. The Free Press will call during regular business hours. Failure to reach winner by phone may result in disqualification of winner, forfeiture of his or her interest in all prizes, and selection of a substitute winner from among all remaining eligible entries.

8. Participation: By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of The Free Press. The Free Press reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this contest as solely determined by The Free Press. In the event the contest is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of The Free Press which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the contest, The Free Press reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the 2010 Baby Calendar Contest. Should the contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, The Free Press reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date.

9. Construction. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

The 2010 Southern Minnesota Baby Calendar Contest is sponsored by The Free Press.  The decisions of The Free Press regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the contest shall be final and binding in all respects. The Free Press will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the contest. For a copy of these Official Rules, visit our website www.mankatofreepress.com or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to “Winner’s List/Official Rules” (as applicable), 2009 SM Baby Contest, c/o The Free Press 418 South Second St. Mankato, MN 56002. If you have any questions regarding this contest, please call Sonya at 507-344-6318 or e-mail srycek@mankatofreepress.com.