Ward six resident Lauren Stockwell was crowned the winner of this year’s “People’s Petal Porch” competition, as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Her entry: “The House of 1,000 Cranes: Somewhere over the Crainbow.” The decor included over 1,000 paper cranes symbolizing hope, healing and good health. Stockwell’s design is a neighborhood favorite that also offers a basketful of cranes to passersby.
Her porch was selected as the winner in a vote conducted via Instagram stories on the National Cherry Blossom Festival account.
More than 300 porches across the District’s eight wards, Maryland and Virginia were entered in this year’s program. Eight DC ward porches, chosen from Prime Petal Porches, were selected to participate in competition-style bracket competition on the Festival’s Instagram account (@CherryBlossFest).
President and CEO of the festival Diana Mayhew said community and togetherness are pillars of the festival and the annual petal porch competition.
“The goal of Petal Porches is to bring local neighborhoods together to celebrate spring and build community pride during the Festival,” Mayhew said. “This year’s competition for the People’s Porch Winner was fierce with hundreds of participants in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia taking part in the overall Petal Porches competition.”
Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com.
