SHOREHAM — Shoreham Inn co-owners Molly and Dominic Francis were the big “winners” in a pig kissing contest that raised more than $6,000 for the town’s Platt Memorial Library.
The “Pig Kissin’” competition saw seven local celebrities vie for the dubious honor of kissing a piglet, aka Runty the Porker, at a public gathering last Saturday. Voters cast their ballots with dollar bills, with the largest sum sealing the victory with a kiss for Runty.
The other candidates in the race included Rep. Will Stevens, I-Shoreham; First National Bank of Orwell President Mark Young; local firefighter Jim Ortuno; Shoreham Elementary Principal Heather Best; and Cora Waag of the Halfway House Restaurant.
It appeared as though Ortuno had won when the bills were counted Saturday morning, but onlookers whipped out their billfolds and checkbooks to get in some new votes. When the polls finally closed, Molly and Dominic Francis pulled in enough votes — more than 1,000 — to win the competition. Ortuno finished second, followed by Waag, Best, Stevens and Young. The top three finishers ended up planting one on Runty after voters provided an additional cash incentive.
Pig Kissin’ yielded more than $3,600 in votes, an amount supplemented by a $2,000 anonymous match and around $600 in sponsorships.
Proceeds will help defray the Shoreham public library’s operating budget.
Judy Stevens, a member of the Friends of Platt Memorial Library and a candidate for the Platt board of directors, was pleased with the Pig Kissin’ election returns.
“It went way beyond our imagination,” she said. “People had a blast.”
Library boosters are likely to devise another creative fund-raiser for next year, she said.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].