Jean Shippee, of Jefferson, won the 2025 #LCNme365 photo contest with a picture of her husband and granddaughter watching the sunset on Monhegan Island.
Readers selected Jean Shippee, of Jefferson, as the winner of the 2025 #LCNme365 photo contest with her picture of a sunset on Monhegan Island.
Shippee, along with the 11 other finalists, had previously won a monthly #LCNme365 contest to become eligible for the annual contest. She won the August contest, which was sponsored by Team Round Pond of Peninsula Properties.
The annual contest launched Wednesday, Dec. 24. Shippee got out to an early lead and ultimately coasted to first place with 21.3% of the 347 votes cast.
Shippee snapped the photo during a trip to Monhegan Island with her husband, Thom, and their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. Thom Shippee and the couple’s granddaughter Millie, who was 13 months old at the time, are featured in the photo.
Jean Shippee, the winner of the 2025 #LCNme365 photo contest. (Courtesy photo)
While she was chosen as a weekly winner in one of the photo contest’s previous years, Shippee said this was the first time her photo had been selected as a monthly winner. She was delighted to learn the picture was voted by readers as the winning photo of 2025.
“I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m just glad people liked it enough to be worthy of being the winner,” Shippee said.
As the winner of the annual contest, Shippee will receive a prize package of products featuring her photo from Lincoln County Publishing Co., of Newcastle. Lincoln County Publishing Co. publishes The Lincoln County News.
The prize package includes decks of playing cards, postcards, note cards, and more. Additionally, Shippee will receive a one-year subscription to The Lincoln County News and an exclusive 2026 calendar featuring all the monthly winners of the contest, with her photo on the cover.
The sponsors for 2025 were Rising Tide Co-op, Ames True Value Hardware and Supply, Coastal Car Wash and Detail Center, Anserve, Metcalf’s Submarine Sandwiches, Renys, Riverside Butcher Co., Team Round Pond of Peninsula Properties, Phillips Power Products, Newcastle Realty, Damariscotta Hardware, and Louis Doe Home Center.
The 2026 contest is already underway, and Shippee and the 11 monthly winners from 2025 are again eligible to win. Rising Tide Co-op, of Damariscotta, is the sponsor for the January contest.
Each week, the staff at The Lincoln County News chooses a winning photo. At the end of the month, readers choose the photo of the month from the weekly winners via a poll at lcnme.com/photo-contest.
The photo that receives the most votes appears on the front page of The Lincoln County News. Additionally, the winner receives a $50 gift certificate from the contest’s monthly sponsor.
For complete contest rules and to view previous entries and winners, go to lcnme.com/photo-contest.
