And the winner is … John Ziegenhagen of St. Louis Park, Minnesota!
John entered the contest late this year, and I was worried that his deep, deep limerick well had run dry. But on the last day of accepting limericks, John sent a Word doc of 15 limericks under the cryptic title of “The Lost Limerick Scrolls”. His email simply said,
“I got on a religious kick that I couldn’t lick.”
John
Well, after reading these 15 shimmering limericks, I am certainly glad John found the lost limerick scrolls. The limericks are good, very good. Champion good!
At first I wondered if John had simply found them and not written them. Oh, dear! However, he assured me that in this “religious kick that he couldn’t lick” he saw the light that helped him find his true center — where he sensed the message: “Lefse is life.” In his epiphany on the final day to enter the limerick contest, he dashed off to me these 15 limericks. The rest is history.
Here are three of the limericks, the combination that won John the championship of the 4th Annual Lefse Limerick Contest:
At Communion we used to have bread But our new pastor served lefse instead. I’m not going to libel, It’s right in the Bible. “Lefse is life,” Jesus said. Brother Lazarus was ready to die As Jesus was just passing by. “Wake up, you old geezer. Become a believer. ‘Cause lefse will make you so spry.” Old Moses, he climbed up that hill. He admitted it gave him a thrill. It wasn’t the commandments That held such enchantments. ‘Twas the lefse God made on His grill. John Ziegenhagen
John is the first repeat champion of the Lefse Limerick Contest, having won the first contest in 2021. Here is the full list of past champions:
- 2024 – John Ziegenhagen, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
- 2023 – Peter Holbrook, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 2022 – Margie Oloughlin, Northfield, Minnesota
- 2021 – John Ziegenhagen, Minnetonka, Minnesota
John’s award for winning is this prized t-shirt:
