Veronica Rodriguez Crowned America's Most Gifted Wrapper

Veronica Rodriguez, a gift-wrapping guru from Richmond, Calif., was crowned "America’s Most Gifted Wrapper" for 2006 in a national gift-wrapping contest sponsored by the maker of Scotch brand tape. Amid throngs of holiday revelers at Rockefeller Center today, Rodriguez out wrapped seven other gift-wrapping experts in the tenth annual Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest to earn the ultimate holiday prize: $10,000. With bows, ribbons and Scotch tape in hand, Rodriguez and her worthy competitors wrapped some of today’s trickiest kids' toys – a soccer ball (out of the box, of course!), a ride-on pedal plane, even a life-size stuffed pony – with breathtaking flair, speed and style. Rodriguez offers this advice to those who are getting ready to wrap their holiday presents: "My top three tips are: be creative, stay focused and make really big bows.” The first runner-up, Vickie Cook from Franklinville, N.C., received a $2,500 cash prize. The other six contestants received smaller cash prizes as well. Contestants were judged on three criteria: appearance, technique and speed. The judging panel consisted of experts in the art of gift-wrapping, Christine Fritsch, author of Gifted Wrapping and the 2002 Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper; Mark Ski, former producer for Martha Stewart Living and Kristine Solomon, editor at Spark Publishing, a division of Barnes & Noble. Scotch is a trademark of 3M. About 3M - A Global, Diversified Technology Company Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the people of 3M use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com. Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti are trademarks of 3M. © 3M 2006