Grand Prize

Jeffrey Brillhart, director of music and fine arts at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, was the grand prize winner in the American Guild of Organists Competition for Organ Improvisation. The guild is an organization of 20,000 organists. The finals involved 30 organists from Europe and North America. Brillhart's prize-winning performance was an improvised four-movement symphony. Brillhart has been the organist at the church since 1983. He earned his bachelor of church music degree from Drake University and his master of performance and literature degree from the Eastman School of Music.

Anne M. Bovee may have finally gotten her big break in the music business. As the recent grand prize winner in the lyric-poem division of the Music City Song Festival, she hopes that her song-writing career has finally taken off. Bovee, of Lawndale, has been writing songs for 23 years, and her entry, "Pick the Pennies," has been her biggest success, earning her a $1,000 cash award. "I began writing songs when I was 15," said Bovee, 38. "The first lyrics that I wrote were basketball cheers.

A Bucks County couple has captured an award for a project that would have given Bob Vila of TV's "This Old House" fame cause for pause. It took Anna and Mark Myers four years to turn the abandoned 236-year-old Quaker farmhouse near Kennett Square into a historic gem worthy to receive the grand prize of the Great American Home Awards. The couple and the Center City architectural firm of Susan Maxman & Associates will receive the award Jan. 27 from Henry Jordan, chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, during the 11th Philadelphia Old House Fair.

The hot tub had already been awarded. Same with the three-day cruise, the airline tickets to Florida, and the free family portrait. Now the oversized cardboard check was signed and ready to go. The band stopped playing. It was time for the grand prize. And the winner . . . . . . turned down the 20 grand. The organizers of the raffle did not know this on that recent night at the Woodbine Inn, but John Costanza, a publicity-shy Pennsauken building contractor, had won first prize and was giving the money back.

Andrew Ciok, of Bayonne, N.J., caught a 23 3/4-inch albacore to win the grand prize at the Governor's Third Annual Fishing Tournament at Island Beach State Park in Ocean County, N.J. For recording the biggest catch of the day last Sunday, Ciok will have his name engraved on the Governor's Cup, which is on permanent exhibit at the state park. He also was given a replica of the cup. Albacore, striped bass, blackfish, bluefish, red drum, fluke, kingfish and weakfish were eligible for entry.

MY 18-YEAR-OLD nephew, John Armstrong, gasped when I told him that the star of the Food Network's "Big Daddy's House" would be coming to my house to cook us dinner. "He's coming to your house?" "That's right. Big Daddy's coming to our house," I repeated, pausing for emphasis. Yeah, I was name-dropping. But it's not every day that McCargo cooks a meal in somebody's home. Maybe back in the day, but not since 2008, when he became the last man standing on "The Next Food Network Star" and wound up snagging the grand prize - his own TV show.

"The Cat in the Hat" was the cat's meow in a float competition at the 65th annual Medford Lakes Canoe Carnival. It took the grand prize at the Aug. 3 event held by the Medford Lakes Colony. The float was built by the Unlikelys, a team of Medford Lakes families.

Anthony L. Bates Dandridge won the $200,000 grand prize in an Alpo Pet Food contest. James T. Parker Jr. won a $50,000 Cadillac Allante in a Trump Plaza Hotel sweepstakes. Lewis J. Mazzio's girlfriend won the $75,000 grand prize in another Alpo contest. But not really. They were only fronts for two promoters who swindled several firms out of some $300,000 in a nationwide sweepstakes contest fraud. They didn't really get the prizes, only a cut of the winnings. Dandridge, 39, a kung fu instructor from Richmond, Va., Parker, 33, a professional hypnotist from Lansdowne, and Mazzio, 23, a businessman from Gladwyne, were convicted of fraud charges yesterday by a U.S. District Court jury.

Let me confess up front that the 13th Wharton Business Plan Competition had me squirming at times as the business students gave their pitches. Flipables wants to sell low-cost, disposable flip-flops to gyms to help reduce the chances of picking up foot fungus, athlete's foot, or worse from the shower floor. Cyrano Nasal Sciences L.L.C. views shots of botulinum toxin in a patient's nasal passages as a once-a-season treatment for allergies. And Boss Medical has designed a medical device for surgeons to better "harvest" bone graft material from a patient's pelvis for use in spinal-fusion surgery.

It was a battle of the bands Nov. 19 at the Barn in Bensalem, as musicians took to the stage to compete for the grand prize - the chance to perform at the Sixers game at the Spectrum on Dec. 9. The winning band - Scooter Butler from Morrisville - also receives 10 free hours of studio time and $400 in Sixers tickets. Second place went to Township Bamboo. Will Hodson and the Manatees placed third.

CITY COUNCILMAN . . . convicted felon . . . stand-up comedian? That's the new career path former Councilman Rick Mariano is shooting for these days as he mines his time in City Hall and federal prison for chuckles. Mariano was to appear at 7:40 a.m. today on John DeBella's show on WMGK (102.9-FM) to try his hand at about a minute of stand-up. It's part of the 5th Annual DeBella Comedy Competition. "Ten years in Council. Five years in prison. It gives you a lot of material for comedy," Mariano, a union electrician, told us by phone yesterday from the construction site where he is working.

MY 18-YEAR-OLD nephew, John Armstrong, gasped when I told him that the star of the Food Network's "Big Daddy's House" would be coming to my house to cook us dinner. "He's coming to your house?" "That's right. Big Daddy's coming to our house," I repeated, pausing for emphasis. Yeah, I was name-dropping. But it's not every day that McCargo cooks a meal in somebody's home. Maybe back in the day, but not since 2008, when he became the last man standing on "The Next Food Network Star" and wound up snagging the grand prize - his own TV show.

Jessica Chastain was in Cannes last month, where the film she stars in, The Tree of Life , a modest number about the dawn of man, about grace and nature and the struggles of a family in 1950s Texas, won the festival's grand prize, the Prix d'Or. And Jessica Chastain was in Cannes last month, where the film she stars in, Take Shelter , about a man ( Michael Shannon ) who is either going crazy or has foreseen the end of the world, won the Critics' Week grand prize. And Jessica Chastain was in Cannes last month, where the film she stars in, The Wettest County in the World , a Depression-era crime drama with Shia LeBoeuf , Guy Pearce , and Mia Wasikowska , was the object of a bidding war. Harvey Weinstein ended up with the distribution rights.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Concert pianists tend to measure their worth by success and failure. But there's plenty of gray area in between, as heard in the Van Cliburn Sixth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs over Memorial Day weekend. The participants emerged into adulthood years ago, not with some competition's grand prize, but with a tire company in Ogden, Utah, or a race-car design that won the Indy 500; with a large, happy family, or maybe a more challenging one with an autistic child.

Students from West Philadelphia High School were awarded a grand prize Sunday at a national science competition for their design and development of an electric car. The West Philly EVX Team was honored by the Conrad Foundation - named after Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., an astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs - for its Electric Very Light Car. The students, from the high school's Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, were named 2011...

Let me confess up front that the 13th Wharton Business Plan Competition had me squirming at times as the business students gave their pitches. Flipables wants to sell low-cost, disposable flip-flops to gyms to help reduce the chances of picking up foot fungus, athlete's foot, or worse from the shower floor. Cyrano Nasal Sciences L.L.C. views shots of botulinum toxin in a patient's nasal passages as a once-a-season treatment for allergies. And Boss Medical has designed a medical device for surgeons to better "harvest" bone graft material from a patient's pelvis for use in spinal-fusion surgery.

The BarCamp "unconference" trend, which rejects structured schedules in favor of discussions and impromptu presentations, is well-established among Philadelphia's young, creative crowd. TechnicallyMedia, the company behind tech blog TechnicallyPhilly, has organized its third annual BarCamp NewsInnovation event for Saturday. The "unconference," focusing on journalistic innovation and the future of news, will take place at Temple University's Annenberg Hall, 13th and Diamond Streets. As at other BarCamp events, people will register to attend and may present on the topic of their choice at a time they may choose from a large interactive schedule.

As a Quaker, Charles Perry was proud of his conscientious-objector work during World War II. He cut paths for power lines through the White Mountains of New Hampshire in 1942. "In the middle of mosquito-infested Pocomoke Swamp in the summer of '43," said a son, Carl, Mr. Perry worked on a government irrigation project on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, said a son. And for the last two years of the war, he worked as an orderly at the state hospital at Byberry in Philadelphia.

IT LOOKS like going on tour with Elton John has broken up Billy Joel's marriage. Or maybe it was the 30-year age difference. Whatever. "Extra" reports that the Piano Man and wife No. 3, Katie Lee Joel, have separated. It's confirmed in a statement from both of their reps (why does she have a rep?): "After nearly five years of marriage Billy Joel & Katie Lee Joel have decided to separate. This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. Billy & Katie remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other.