We all may feel at times that our lawn is taking place in an unofficial contest and resent the challenge of keeping up our lawns during a rainy season, but in 1915 Mr. Egbert Hawk instituted a lawn contest in Bloomington. This contest was limited to those lawns that were maintained by the homeowner -- no lawns that were maintained by hired help! Egbert Hawk was the owner of a wholesale grocery company in Bloomington, not a nursery man, so he had no hopes of increasing his own profits through this contest.
The contest was adopted with some enthusiasm. Three hundred and twenty eight home owners entered their lawns in the contest and a squad of inspectors visited each lawn four times through the summer months to see it at various stages of blooming or growth. On this date the winners were announced and photographed for the Pantagraph.
1st Prize Joe Rediger 1007 Barker Street​
2nd Prize Frank Baker 911 E Taylor
3rd Prize, William Kehr, 1000 S. Low
4th Prize William Bringham, 1008 E Oakland
5th Prize AP Glenn, 1214 E Jefferson