Suffolk Parks and Recreation’s annual Chalk Art Competition on Oct. 12 at the Suffolk Peanut Fest brought the best out of local artists, who decorated their two-by-four-foot boards with delightful designs inspired by this year’s festival theme, “Let the Sun Shine, It’s Peanut Fest Time.”

The competition was for ages 5 and up and divided into elementary school, middle school, high school and adult categories. First, second and third place in each category received cash prizes. Participants also had the option of taking their masterworks home with them, if they wished.

There were up to 30 entry spaces for artists, and the entries were judged by 2019 Suffolk Peanut Fest Queen Cassidy Hayes and the princesses of the Peanut Fest Court.

According to Angela Reavis, Suffolk Parks and Recreation cultural arts coordinator, the winners for this year’s Chalk Art Competition are as follows:

Elementary Category
1st Place — Emma Harris
2nd Place — Summer Brooks
3rd Place — Katelyn Fatherly

Middle School Category
1st Place — Madison Dunn
2nd Place — Aspen Knight
3rd Place — Sean Rodgers

High School Category
1st Place — Natalie Williford
2nd Place — Carson Gralheer
3rd Place — Alexa Snyder

Adult Category
1st Place — Haley Hamilton
2nd Place — Connie Johnston
3rd Place — Amberly Knight

Hamilton won first place for adults with a peanut-shaped solar system, with the earth reciting this year’s Peanut Fest theme, while Johnston took second place with a “Peanuts”-infused scene of Snoopy and Woodstock enjoying a nutty day at the fair.

Johnston and Hamilton were chalking together with Hamilton’s mother Mel Hamilton, who had a guy “jamming with the sun,” as she described her illustration.

The trio were gathered around at the table Saturday morning under the Chalk Art Competition tent. Haley Hamilton played country music from her phone as they sketched their scenes.

Parks and Recreation provided art supplies at the event, but the three ladies came prepared. They picked their colors from their kit — an assortment of chalk art supplies organized in a fishing tackle box.

“We used to bring so many stacks of boxes of the chalk,” Mel Hamilton said, and the tackle box solved that problem.