The Blanchet Memorial Contest was an annual prize for poetry and prose sponsored by the Saranac Lake Study and Craft Guild in memory of Dr. Sidney F. Blanchet.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 1, 1948
JUDGE OF PROSE FOR CONTEST IS ANNOUNCED
Mrs. Elizabeth Ingersoll of the firm of Ingersoll and Brennan, a New York literary agency, has been named as judge of the prose division of the current Blanchet Memorial contest.
The contest which opened last month is sponsored by the Saranac Lake Study and Craft Guild. It continues until July 1 when all manuscripts must be in the hands of the judge.
The prizes for the prose winners will be $10 for first place, $5 for second. In the poetry division which opened at the same time the prizes will be five, three and one dollar for the first three places.
Judge of the poetry division has not yet been announced. The contest is held annually in memory of the late Dr. Sidney F. Blanchet.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 25, 1948
Trudeau Patients Take Prizes for Blanchet Contest
James L. Rowe of Trudeau was announced today as winner of the prose division of the 1948 Blanchet Memorial contest sponsored by the Saranac Lake Study and Craft Guild.
With the announcement of Mr. Rowe as winner, it brought to Trudeau the distinction of having two of its residents walk away with first places in both the prose and poetry division and a second in the prose category.
Announcement of the winners was made by Mrs. Elizabeth Ingersoll, a partner in the firm of Ingersoll and Brennan, literary agents. She acted as judge of the prose division.
Second place went to Mohamed I. El-Ghawas, also of Trudeau sanatorium for his entry "Too Good To Love." Prizes of $10 for first place and $5 for second will be awarded to these writers.
Mr. Roue's entry was entitled "On the Porch." In her selection notes Mrs. Ingersoll stated "This was awarded first place because it tells so much in so few words and tells it beautifully. In its journey through time it evokes a mood and portrays an experience that in some degree is universal and common to us all. Quite an accomplishment in about 300 words."
Of Mr. El-Ghawas' storv she said. "This was awarded second place for its fine craftsmanship and for the unusual and subtle
In the poetry division announced several weeks ago the winners were Dr. Lester I. Leonard of Trudeau, first, for his entry "The Catalyst"; Katherine C. Moylette of Portland, Ore., 2nd. for "Desolate Pine" and Olessa Ludham Hay of Chazy; third, for her poem "Snowfall in the Adirondacks."
The contest is sponsored annually by the Guild in memory of the late Dr. Sidney F. Blanchet, one of the founders of the institution. The contest is open to any person who has not sold articles to any publications.
Mrs Homer McCreary of this village was judge for the prose division. The contest opened in July and contestants were given six weeks in which to send in their writings and poetry.
Robert Taylor, Saranac: America's Magic Mountain, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1986. 0-395-37905-9. pp. 241-2
The author of The Razor's Edge [W. Somerset Maugham] was not long permitted to remain a detached observer, and the village fathers, cognizant of the celebrated man of letters in their midst, asked him to judge short story contest. Many writers might have begged off or treated the Blanchet Memorial Contest as a task better left to high school English teachers, but Maugham acceded. Perhaps he was bored by the perpetual Sunday afternoon vacuum small-town America, or then again he may have sought distraction from the memento mori of Gerald's condition. In any event, Maugham judged the contest and, always a thorough-going professional craftsman, scrupulously inspected each apprentice manuscript before setting down his conclusions.
The piece which is titled "No Title" seems to me the best, neatest and most original bit of writing; but I don't see how it could possibly be described as a short story. [The tale opens with a formula ominous to every teacher of creative writing, "This is the story of a person trying to write a short story."] If you don't think this matters. I would certainly give it first place.
The best of the others in my opinion are "Eyes So Blue" and The Silent Fisherman of Lost Crick."
There is nothing to choose between them. The author of "Eyes So Blue" has had a good idea but has spoiled it (to my mind) by laying on the deaths too thick. (Oherwise the story has a nice feel to it.
The trimmings of "The Silent Fisherman," by which I mean the local color and the dialogue, are well-done, but the author through want of experience has missed the thrill of surprise and the shock that he should have got…
If you decide to give three prizes I will contribute $5 so that numbers II and III may have the sum they would have had if only two prizes had been awarded.
