Long Island’s Cutest Baby contest winners
Violet Jane Uttendorfer of Babylon and Calvin Spaventa of Valley Stream. Credit: Allyson Uttendorfern and Nicholas Spaventa
The babies have been crowned. Nearly 400 infants in Nassau and Suffolk counties were entered into Newsday’s first Long Island’s Cutest Baby contest.
Here are the winners in the boys and girls categories, determined by which entrants got the most votes during a weeklong voting period:
BOY: CALVIN SPAVENTA
Calvin Spaventa of Valley Stream loves playing peekaboo, laughs when his parents blow raspberries on his stomach, and stops crawling to look up at the TV whenever Hooper the cartoon hamster makes an appearance on PBS Kids.
Calvin, now 6 months old, is the winner of Newsday’s inaugural Long Island’s Cutest Baby contest in the boys category. His parents, Jasmine, 31, and Nicholas, 34, entered a photo of Calvin that Nicholas snapped of him in a park in August, when Calvin, born April 30, 2015, was 3 months old.
“Normally he looks off or is distracted by things. This was a photo where he looked directly into the camera,” Jasmine says. Calvin is the Spaventas’ first child.
Jasmine’s sister, Jillian Larreategui of Westbury, suggested the Spaventas enter Calvin in the contest, and Jasmine’s great aunt Alba, who lives in California, was the driving force motivating family members from as far away as Colombia to vote for him, using the hashtag #familystrong. “She basically rallied the troops,” Jasmine says. “I don’t know if he would have won if it wasn’t for my great Aunt Alba.”
Jasmine recently became a stay-at-home mom, and Nicholas is a payroll specialist. The Spaventas say they plan to use the $500 prize toward Calvin’s college education. In fact, Jasmine says they chose the name Calvin in part because they liked the way “Dr. Calvin Spaventa” sounds. “We have high hopes for him,” Jasmine says.
GIRL: VIOLET JANE UTTENDORFER
Violet Jane Uttendorfer of Babylon has just started eating real food and favors sweet potatoes and bananas. She loves Mickey Mouse, bubble baths and petting the family’s two Persian cats, Pumpkin and Delilah.
Violet, now 5 months old, has won Newsday’s inaugural Long Island’s Cutest Baby contest in the girls category. Her parents, Allyson, 38, and Shawn, 39, submitted a photo of Violet that Allyson took using her Canon camera when Violet, who was born on June 3, 2015, was just 2 weeks old.
“I’m a photography teacher, so I pride myself on beautiful pictures of Violet,” Allyson says. “A lot of the [submitted] pictures were snapshots. I tried to post a more creative shot that was planned.”
Violet is wearing a hand-knit teddy bear outfit and lying on a furry, white rug.
Allyson’s mom, Janet Scelfo of West Babylon, suggested that the Uttendorfers enter the contest. “My mother is an avid Newsday reader; she pulled the ad out of the paper,” Allyson says.
Allyson, who teaches photography at Half Hollow Hills High School East in Dix Hills, credits her students — and Shawn’s — with helping Violet win the competition. Shawn Uttendorfer teaches art at Garden City High School. With all of their students spreading the word through social media, Violet made it to the top. “Our students definitely voted,” Allyson says.
The Uttendorfers will use the $500 prize to buy gifts for Violet. “She actually needs clothes, and a new stroller,” Allyson says.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
