Suspect HOF entry "withdrawn" by 2007 winner
Questions have been raised for some time in multiple forums about the origin of a photograph in one of the pages in Bernadette Henderson's winning 2007 Hall of Fame entry. The photo, of Henderson in a river raft, appears likely to be a professional image from a photographer that partners with the rafting company. Henderson has offered various other explanations for the photo's origins at various times, including that it was taken from a tripod on the bank or created digitally. (The rafting company's photography contractor failed to reply to several requests from Scrapbook Update for comment in the past week.)
In the face of mounting criticism, Henderson announced today via a post on the Two Peas In A Bucket Pub board that she is "withdrawing" her 2007 entry from the contest:
I apologize for my absence, but from all the posts written about me I am sure you can understand that most of these boards, private messages and emails have been the last place I've wanted to spend much time lately. Whether on purpose or not some of you have said some very mean statements about me that I feel are totally untrue and I can't begin to tell you the pain I have gone through and witnessed others go through over the last couple of weeks. I apologize if something I have said or done has in some way done any of you or anyone any wrong. This is and has never been my intention.
As someone who spent a bit too much time learning the theory behind communication, I am really sad that so many of my posts were interpreted incorrectly. It looks like I need to go out and spend some money brushing up with some practical communication courses instead of spending so much on scrap supplies (smile). I will not go further into detail on the misinterpretations because from the fire storm of comments that have been made it has been proven that anything I say will be twisted, misconstrued and then held against me and this was not what I expected or was hoping for when I made those original posts. In the context of being asked how someone COULD do something and how I DID do it, there was a lot of liberty used in interpreting my statements by not only connecting the wrong dots, but creating dots that do not even exist. This whole episode would be a perfect case study for that communication course I would love to take.
To all those that have supported me through this whole ordeal, I send out my warmest thoughts. I will never be able to express to you how valuable you have been in helping me to keep my sanity. Helping me keep my faith in the "industry." Helping me to realize that in the bigger picture, this isn't what scrapbooking is about. This isn't what I'm about.
For those that truly know me I feel very comfortable that you know I have very high moral values. When I entered the HOF contest and throughout this ordeal, I 110% felt that I was following all the rules and in no way felt that I was going to somehow slide something by someone. I also don’t believe any of the other HOF winners would intentionally violate any rules set out by CK in an effort to game the system. And above all else, I believe CK is a highly reputable company and would never jeopardize their reputation by intentionally overlooking rules for any contestant or entry when there are so many fantastically talented, reputable, ready women and men who could have just as easily been HOF on any given day.
With that said I will raise the white surrender flag and officially announce that I have withdrawn my HOF entry for 2007. This was a very hard decision, but when I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture, at what scrapbooking and sharing memories was becoming, this was clearly the right decision for me, for the contest, and for the sake of us continuing to be able to share our memories with friends and family. With each other. As a wise woman passed on knowledge from her mother to me, in this tug of war, it is time to put down the rope.
Again after all that has taken place I am hesitant to post. Agree or disagree with my decision, I do hope you will have a blessed day. Or at least a somewhat happier day. I hope this will bring you some closure. I hope you will keep perspective. I hope you’ll be inspired by the fantastic work presented in the HOF book this year and for the years to come. I hope you will keep on scrapping and sharing. I know that is exactly my plan…to keep on scrapping and sharing. To keep perspective.
