Nominations being sought for 5th annual Barn of the Year Award Contest

Barn owners of barns 50 years or older will be interested to know that nomination forms for the 5th annual Barn of the Year Award Contest are now available. The contest, sponsored by the Friends of Minnesota Barns, will accept nominees from barn owners in the following categories:

Best agricultural adaptive reuse: An eligible barn in this category is a barn still used for agricultural related uses and whose owner's primary income source is farming based.

Best non-agricultural adaptive reuse: An eligible barn in this category is a barn that has been adapted to any reuse not related to agriculture nor is used as a residence.

Best barn conversion to living quarters: An eligible barn in this category is a barn that has been converted to a year round or vacation home.

Most dramatic rescue: an eligible barn in this category is a barn that was brought back from collapse and ruin. This category recognizes the efforts of those who in the process of actually saving a barn may have gone beyond the normal boundaries of common sense and sanity.

Most faithful restoration: an eligible barn in this category is a barn that looks close to what it looked like when it was originally constructed.

Most unique barn: an eligible barn in this category may be oddly shaped, built with non-traditional materials, or is distinctive in some way that does not fit with any other category.

The contest will run from June 15 through August 31st, 2012. Additional contest information and application forms are available at the Friends of Minnesota Barns website at www.friendsofminnesotabarns.org. Only electronic applications will be accepted. Contest winners will be recognized at a reception that will be held October 27th at a location yet to be announced.

The Friends of Minnesota Barns is a not for profit organization whose only focus is drawing attention to the wealth of barn structures in the state of Minnesota.