www.winaranch.com contest canceled

The essay contest to win a 60-acre ranch in Cloverdale has been canceled and the property is now for sale. The website used to promote the contest (http://www.wina-ranch.com) now markets the property.

According to owner Tom Flenniken, the contest did not attract enough entries. The ranch is back on the market for $695,000.

Flenniken had hoped for 4,000 essays. These were to be judged, and the winner would have been awarded the property.

Instead, Flenniken said he received only about "one-third of what I needed." He would not be more specific.

The contest required those entering to send a "cashier's check or money order payable to the order of 'Win A Ranch Essay Contest' in the amount of $150 U.S. Funds to cover the Contest Entry Fee of $140 and a non-refundable Handling Fee of $10..." according to the website.

Flenniken said he would be mailing checks for the $140 entry fee back to entrants over the next two weeks. He said he has ordered the checks and it would take that long to process the applications.

The non-refundable handling fee of $10 per entry would go to cover costs such as the $3,000 to $4,000 Flenniken said he spent in attorneys fees to set up the contest, and advertising costs.

"We got a lot of nice letters that accompanied the essays, thanking us for giving them a chance to win a ranch for $150. One woman sent a box with boots and dress. She wrote, 'Just put these in the closet in case I win,' " Flenniken said.

Flenniken said he was surprised at how advertising drew contest entries. TV Guide, a national publication in which it was expensive to advertise, was much less successful than Equus Magazine. Ads run in a Los Angeles newspaper for two months at a cost of $350 per week did not generate a single response, Flenniken said.

"I thought it would work like gang bustersI don't know what I could have done any different," to make the contest more successful, he said.

Tom and Suzie Flenniken still plan to move to Arizona. Tom, who works out of Highland Realty in Redmond, will market the property himself.