First Place, Portrait Personality - Jeffrey Smith / The (Toledo) BladeTom Davis releases a homing pigeon after Tessa, a German Short-haired Pointer, successfully traced the scent and found the bird at Davis' home in Sylvania Township. Davis began the sport of field trial in 1970, and has since won eight national championships with the dogs he has trained. "I was hooked," Davis said. "What your dog does is a bit of an extension of yourself as a trainer, it is a big of an ego trip. I enjoy watching young dogs when their light bulb goes on and they finally get what to do."
Second Place, Portrait Personality - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchLincoln impersonator Rick Miller takes a photo of himself with a bust of Lincoln while Steve Wood looks on in the Governors ceremonial office at the Columbus statehouse. Lincoln impersonators were in Columbus for their convention and toured the statehouse as part of the weekend.
Third Place, Portrait Personality - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchOhio State law student Jenna Grassbaugh holds the flag that draped her husband's coffin after he was killed in Iraq in 2007, 10 months after they were married. She is using the life insurance money to start a clinic to help returning veterans with legal and other services.
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Courtney Hergesheimer / The Columbus DispatchLexi Daniels, 13-year-old dancer who plans to audition when the America's Got Talent show comes to Columbus. Daniels was born with no right arm below the elbow, but her talent and passion for dancing have drawn rave reviews. Pictured at her dance studio, North Point Dance Academy in Lewis Center.
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Kristin Bauer / The (Elyria) Chronicle-TelegramDillon, 6, awaits his family's move in his bedroom at Wilkes Villa. Dillon's autism has made this move especially difficult, and important throughout the years. His mother, Tabitha Crabtree, expresses her difficulty in raising a child, let alone an autistic child, as a single mother living in what many call "the projects." There are many scratches and crayon marks left behind above his bed from his outbursts throughout the years. Throughout the afternoon on move-in day, his family constantly encouraged him that his Spongebob Square Pants bed sheets and his stuffed animal dog will make it to the new house so they could get through the move.
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerJohn J. Cesear, 89, of Parma, attended a Christmas Eve mass in Maastricht, The Netherlands, in 1943, with about 300 other soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Only 50 of those who attended the mass, including Cesear, survived the battle. Cesear has spent a lifetime with nightmares, but still is dedicated to telling the story and honoring the soldiers through presentations.
