It is always great to get prize money too, but in all fairness there wsa no entry fee either. The funny thing is I entered two things that were very nice. I took first place on both (in seperaty catagories) but the one that took best of show was more flashy. The Bible cover was better, but the notebook caught you eye more.
I convinced a friend who is new to tooling (less than a year) to enter something too and she got a ribon for it. I am hoping it serves as motivation to keep her learning.