Five winners have been announced in the Great Bend Tree Board’s annual Trick or Tree photography contest.
Tree Board President Toni Rice said the best photo in each category won a $50 Great Bend Chamber of Commerce gift certificate.
“All of the people who entered have been invited to join the Tree Board because of their obvious passion for trees,” Rice said. “We are always looking for interested community members to join our board. Interested parties can fill out an application at the Great Bend City Building.”

Susan Lang was the winner in the category Most Beautiful Fall Colors, for a photo of a tree in Hoisington. Hers was the only winning photo that wasn’t taken in Great Bend.
Monica Bowers won in the Most Unusual Species category. The tree is a Newport Purple Leaf Flowering Plum located at 3211 Broadway Ave. Bowers writes that new leaves are bronze-purple changing to dark purple; it has pale pink flowers in the spring.
Max Roberts won the Amateur Photography award and Amy Stein won the Professional Photography award.

In the category Family Tree with Historical Significance, storytelling was important as photography. Gary Pinkall was the winner.
“The tree is a Quaking Aspen tree I planted more than 20 years ago in my front yard at 2209 Garfield in Great Bend,” Pinkall wrote. “It is an unusual species for this area. It is also certified as the largest Aspen tree in the state of Kansas!” He sent the online link to the Kansas Forest Service Champion Tree registry: https://www.kansasforests.org/kansas_forest_services/championtrees.html.