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Amgen Tour Briefs

Fourth-grader wins bicycle in local essay contest

Nine-year-old Kayla Plater, a fourth-grader at the Family School in Los Olivos, won a mountain bike and helmet for writing the top essay in a contest sponsored by the city of Solvang and the Local Organizing Committee for the Tour of California.

George and Lori Plater had plenty of reason to be proud Friday. In addition to their daughter Kayla’s big win, for which she was honored on stage at the finish line, their son Lance, 11, wrote the top essay in the sixth-grade division of the contest.

The fifth-grade winner was Jacob Park, 10, a student at Valley Christian Academy and the son of Chris and Anjie Park; the fourth-grade winner was Gavin Callow, 10, a student at Solvang School and son of Sean and Traci Callow.

The contest received 25 entries, organizers said. Winners at each grade level received a Tour of California T-shirt, hat and pin.

You can read Kayla’s winning essay in Thursday’s Valley News.

Girls sing national anthem

Four girls from Solvang Middle School launched the racing Friday by singing the national anthem from the stage at the starting line.

As they finished their quartet, sixth-graders Baylee Frausto and Megan Spence and seventh-graders Lindsey Suarez and Bryana Schuyler got a rousing cheer from the crowd of people who had jammed together along Mission Drive.

Winner gets unique gift

Santa Ynez Valley artist John Cody, world renowned for his work in serpentine and marble, carved a unique sculpture from serpentine rock found on Figueroa Mountain that was presented to Stage 6 winner Levi Leipheimer.

The material seemed particularly appropriate, organizers said, because Figueroa Mountain is a favorite training area for both professional and amateur cyclists.

This is the third unique sculpture Cody has created for the winner of the Solvang stage of the annual professional cycling race, and Leipheimer has collected them all by winning the local time trial in 2007, ’08 and ’09.

Mole Hole wins window contest

A contest for the best Tour of California window display went to the Mole Hole on Mission Drive.

David Rasmussen of the Solvang Chamber of Commerce, which organized the contest, said the shop beat 10 other entries to win two passes to the VIP tent at the race’s starting line.

Honorable mention went to First Street Leather.