Givanna Dentice Named

Beautiful Baby Contest Winner

Congratulations to Giavanna Dentice, and to parents Mary and Frank Dentice of Newtown.

Giavanna, 11 months, is the winner of the 2012 Homes For Our Troops Beautiful Baby Contest.

Mrs Dentice told contest organizer Lois Barber, of Sandy Hook, that she leaned about the Beautiful Baby Contest when she was handed a flier during last year’s Labor Day Parade as her family watched from the sidelines. This year, the family will be looking at the sidelines as they are ride down Main Street in a chauffeur-driven convertible provided by Mercedes of Danbury for the day.

The Dentices’s winning strategy was to ask relatives and friends to stop by the voting booth at Stop & Shop in Sand Hill Plaza and vote with cash, and/or to donate tax-deductible checks made payable to Homes For Our Troops.

Frank Dentice owns Route 53 Auto Body in Danbury and asked business acquaintances to donate. Between the steady stream of money inserted at the booth at Stop & Shop, and the tax-deductible checks, little Giavanna won her title as the child whose photo raised the most amount of money to help a young, disabled American soldier get a handicap house.

Between private donations, the $10 entry fees for each child entered into the contest, and money collected during the voting period, the 2012 Beautiful Baby Contest raised almost $4,000.

As promised, Giavanna and her family will featured in the Newtown Labor Day Parade on September 3.

In addition, to say thank you to everyone who entered the contest, Mrs Barber has decided to extend an invitation to every child who entered, their siblings and their parents — who all helped raise these funds for Homes For Our Troops — to join her in marching in the parade in September.

Forty-eight children were entered into this year’s contest, Mrs Barber said this week.

“Share in the fun of becoming part of the parade, and for helping Homes for Our Troops getting one more American Hero off the waiting list for a house,” said Mrs Barber.