Couples, pairs of friends and family members filed their way into The Cabin Saturday night to not only spend time together, but also to hear some friendly competition.

As a part of the Winter Carnival, the University Activities Commission hosted an event in The Cabin, bringing in talent from the local area, said Nick Dougherty, member of The Cabin committee.

“It’s a great way to get people to play here who otherwise we wouldn’t notice or they wouldn’t get to,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty said the Singer Songwriter Slam was free to enter into and the contestants needed to arrive a half hour prior to start time. Seven contestants signed up, allowing for three rounds throughout the two-hour time slot.

Each contestant had the chance to perform one song per round. After each round, judges in the crowd ranked how well each contestant did on a scale of one to five, five being the greatest ranking. Dougherty then tallied up everyone’s score, eliminating two people per round.

Abby Legare was crowned the winner of the Slam. Legare, who goes by her stage name Ginger Bones, is a former student of UW-Eau Claire and said she was excited to be back.

“That was just a dream to just be sitting up there, playing out there,” she said.

Currently, Bones lives back home in Minneapolis (Minn.), but said when a classmate, and fellow contestant, told her about the Singer Songwriter Slam this weekend, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“I performed at the Acoustic Cafe Thursday night,” Bones said. “So when I heard there was this happening tonight, everything seemed to line up.”

Bones said she stayed at friends houses over the past few nights, and while some of them were in the audience tonight, Bones’ aunt and mother were in attendance as well.

“They came all the way from Minneapolis,” Bones said. “ And I was like, ‘You guys, I’m only going to play like, one song for sure, maybe two,’ and they were like, ‘Oh we’re going to come for sure!’”

As each round came to a close, and Bones found herself advancing, the singer said she got more and more excited, but she said her competition made her a little nervous as well. The singer also noted this was the first musical competition she won.

In the future, Bones said she’s set up small venues in college towns such as Madison, Mankato (Minn.) and St. Cloud (Minn.), along with the paid set she earned at The Cabin next semester. She said she’s excited to travel and to hopefully inspire new people.

“That’s what I’d love to do,” Bones said. “Be able to go and meet new people and see new places … that’s all it’s about.”