HH_051817

14 | May 18, 2017 | The Homer Horizon news
homerhorizon.com
Frankfort woman’s monkey reaction shot wins Vacation Photo Contest
Bill Jones, Managing Editor
Wherever Frankfort resident
Karla Ermel goes,
strange things seem to happen
to her.
“I go, ‘Why me? Why not
my husband?’” she said.
But someone has to take
the photos, and odds are
her husband’s reaction to a
monkey climbing over him
in a desperate attempt to
get to a tour guide’s banana
would not have been quite
so priceless. Nor would it
have won 22nd Century
Media Southwest Chicago’s
2017 Vacation Photo Contest.
This time around, we
asked readers to submit
photos from their “secondfavorite”
vacations — moments
that maybe did not
rank at the top for various
reasons but were still incredibly
memorable.
Ermel’s submission came
from a visit to Grenada.
“It was a cruise,” she said.
“This was one stop.”
They were going on a
spice tour with a guide
when the fateful encounter
occurred.
“He took us to this park
where he knows monkeys
like bananas, and so he was
feeding them,” Ermel said.
“The monkey was trying to
get to the banana in the tour
guide’s hand by climbing on
my head.”
Ermel was horrified.
“I was appalled,” she
said. “I was scared. As
much as I love wildlife and
think they’re cool, I was
freaking out.”
She said her husband
captured the moment, as
the rest of the tour group
watched in amusement.
“It was an unpleasant experience,
but a memorable
one,” she said.
The scene struck a chord
with the editorial staff, who
felt it was a fantastic match
for the theme. In addition
to Ermel’s wonderful reaction,
many also were taken
by the second monkey, just
chilling the foreground as
the banana heist happens
behind him (or her).
Entries were judged
based on photo quality,
originality, capturing the essence
of vacation, emphasis
on summer and ability to fit
the theme. The contest drew
numerous entries from
all seven towns in 22nd
Century Media Southwest
Chicago’s coverage area:
Orland Park, Tinley Park,
Frankfort, Mokena, New
Lenox, Homer Glen and
Lockport.
Ermel’s winning entry
also is published on the
cover of the Summer Fun
Guide, inserted with this
week’s issue of The Homer
Horizon.
She also received the
following prize package
from our generous contest
sponsors: a gift certificate
valued at $25 to Odyssey
Fun World, 19111 Oak Park
Ave. in Tinley Park; a gift
certificate for two hours of
bowling and shoe rentals
for up to six people on a
lane at Laraway Lanes Entertainment
Center, 1009
W. Laraway Road in New
Lenox (the certificate also
includes one 12-inch pizza
and one pitcher of pop); a
family four-pack valued at
$200 in gaming to Dave and
Busters, 49 Orland Square
Drive in Orland Park; two
passes for Emagine Entertainment’s
Frankfort Theatre,
19965 S. LaGrange
Road in Frankfort; a gift
certificate good for one session
for up to four people
(valued at $70) at BowDoc
Archery, 18801 Wolf Road,
Unit 4, in Mokena; a $20
gift card for Sizzles, 571 E.
Division St. in Lockport;
and a $25 gift certificate
for Chesdan’s Pizzeria &
Grille, 15764 S. Bell Road
in Homer Glen.
Karla Ermel, of Frankfort, reacts to a monkey climbing on her head in an attempt to get a banana from the tour guide. She
called it “an unpleasant experience, but a memorable one.” Photo submitted
Homer Glen Runners-Up
A look at entries from Homer Glen residents into the 2017 Vacation Photo Contest.
Kirstin Munis, of Homer Glen, submitted this photo of when she collected sea
shells at Table Rock Lake in Hollister, Missouri.
Regina Pfeiffer, of Homer Glen, shared
this photo of one of her children,
Logan, in Sister Lakes, Michigan.