Henry Daily Herald

Photo by Jason A. Smith Nine-year-old Olivia Ruiz, of Locust Grove, and Hyland Colbert, 6, of Locust Grove, won the drawing contest spotlighting the Henry Players production of “The Neverending Story.” The contest was sponsored by the acting group, and the Henry Daily Herald.

Olivia Ruiz, 9, of Locust Grove, was excited to learn her drawing had been selected as a winner in a recent art contest.

“It felt really cool, because I didn’t expect that I’d win,” said Ruiz, a third-grader at Union Grove Elementary School. She was one of two youngsters who emerged victorious in an art competition, sponsored jointly by the Henry Players and the Henry Daily Herald.

Ruiz won for the ages 8 to 12 category, and received four tickets to the Players’ latest production, “The Neverending Story.” The play will take the stage Thursday through Sunday, at the Henry County Performing Arts Center, in McDonough.

Kathryn Wood, director of the play, selected the winners for the contest. She said the Players’ goal was to expose more children to “The Neverending Story.”

“Since it is our children’s show for the season, we’re trying to bring more children into the show and get more children involved, and introduce them to the story,” said Wood. “That’s why we did this contest, hoping that we could pique their imagination, and they could possibly go to the library and check the book out, or maybe Google ‘The Neverending Story’ and learn about it, or maybe see the movie.”

Hyland Colbert, of Stockbridge, won in the ages 4 to 7 group. Colbert, in the fall, will enter first-grade at Smith Elementary School, in Clayton County. The soft-spoken 6-year-old sported a shy smile as he picked up his certificate at the newspaper Wednesday.

Colbert’s mother, Bishonna Colbert, said drawing enables her son to have a creative outlet.

“This is actually the second art contest that he’s won,” she said. “He’s a man of few words, so this gives him a chance to express himself.”

The Henry Players also recently announced the names of individuals who won tickets to the production during McDonough’s Geranium Festival in May. They are Cindy Andres, Tricia Stell, Wendy Johnson, Sue Prater, Amanda McCall, Paula Maddox, Katye Hennesey, Robert Townsend and Lisa McEwer.

Tickets will available under the names of winners at the will-call table of the Performing Arts Center.