The woodland owner has postponed the deadline again to ensure enough entries to raise $350,000.
An essay contest that would award 47 wooded acres in Whitefield to the winner is raising questions and criticism because the woman running it has extended the deadline for submissions several times.
The Maine Land Essay Contest, organized by Martha Manchester, requires that entrants send an essay of no more than 200 words and $100 to Manchester, with a panel of judges selecting the winner.
Contest rules required a minimum of 3,000 entrants – which would give Manchester $300,000 before taxes – for land appraised at just over $57,000. Manchester has said she will give $20,000 to two charities and $5,000 to the contest winner to help with taxes.
If Manchester doesn’t receive at least 3,000 entries, the contest is void and she must return the entry fees. The contest is capped at 3,500 entries.
The original contest deadline was April 26, but Manchester extended it to May 21 because there were two few entries.
Two months later, the contest is still going on and the deadline has been extended yet again, to July 25. That is three months after the first deadline, despite the original contest rules that stated the seller “reserves the right to extend the deadline for a period of at least 30, but not more than 45 days.”
ENTRANTS DISLIKE EXTENSIONS
Entrants have expressed displeasure with the extensions on the Maine Land Essay Contest’s Facebook page.
“The only thing you can do at this point is to stop this contest and return the money,” Pat Loller wrote. “When this is investigated, they will see that the end date was extended beyond the rules. Real simple.”
Another commenter, Jasmine Ingersoll, has posted repeatedly, questioning whether the contest has enough entries and wondering when it will end.
According to Manchester, the extension to July 25 will be the last.
“If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Then the money gets returned, and I still have my 47 acres,” Manchester said. “When it’s on the 25th, what’s done is done. Either way, one way or the other, it’s done.”
She added that her lawyer extended the contest at her request.
“I contacted my lawyer, and he got me an extension for another 45 days,” she said. “Other than that I am at the mercy of my lawyer.”
According to the contest’s website – mainelandessay.com – the undeveloped property on Route 218 is 22 miles from Bath and 18 miles from Augusta. It has 1,100 feet of road frontage.
Manchester claims articles in the Kennebec Journal and The Coastal Journal about the contest resulted in fewer entries because they mentioned the $300,000 Manchester was hoping to bring in. The town’s assessed value for the land is $57,200, and Manchester has stated the “market value” is around $150,000.
Manchester said those numbers don’t take into account the 33 percent in taxes she would pay on the earnings, or the donations she plans to make: $10,000 to the American Cancer Society and $10,000 to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter. She also plans to give the winner of the contest $5,000 toward property taxes.
NEEDS TO REACH 3,500 ENTRANTS
Although contest rules state that the minimum number of entries is 3,000, Manchester said, “I need my 3,500 applications or I’m losing money on the land.”
According to Timothy Feeley, a spokesman for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, everything in the essay contest is legal.
“There is no law governing essay contests, as they presumably involve some degree of skill and are not ‘games of chance’ under our gambling laws,” Feeley said. “If the promoter keeps the money without transferring the promised property, then this enterprise might cross the line and would be reviewed as a possible fraud.”
Keeping the money and walking away isn’t going to happen, Manchester said, and all the money is accounted for and ready to be returned if the contest is a failure.
“It just goes into an escrow account and sits there, and if the contest doesn’t work, then we’ll be writing a bunch of checks and returning the money,” she said.
Contest rules called for entries to include an envelope with a return address and stamp for money to be returned safely.
Chris Chase can be contacted at:
cchase@coastaljournal.com
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