The McAfee family of Texarkana are no strangers to hamming it up in front of the camera.

They’ve been doing just that for video contests regularly and can now add one more feather to their cap in the funny family realm.

The McAfees recently won the Hostess “Bee Funny” contest. Earlier this year, they were among the top 10 in a video contest for Chic-fil-A.

Their video features some wild high jinks during a family picnic, including a sleeping grandmother, burnt lizard, tossed Ding Dongs and an orangutan.

Hostess asked families to send the famous baked goods company their humorous commercials involving Hostess snacks. The promotion is connected to the DVD release of “Bee Movie,” starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Reneé Zellweger and others.

Chip McAfee, the Arkansas Razorback TV teacher at Arkansas High and a weatherman for a Shreveport TV station, said the family has been doing video contests for a while.

“People started bringing me contests and saying here’s one, here’s one. My mother found this one on a Hostess package,” said McAfee. He’s joined in the video by his wife Mindy and children Allie, Tabitha, MaryGrace and Chance.

He said the little kids in the family, in particular, like to participate. And the best part of filming the videos is that they’ve recorded the kids for the future.

“It’s just as much for us as it is for anything,” said McAfee, who did the editing for the winning video.

He said the kids love to watch the videos over and over again.

“Not only do the kids like to do it, I mean they were just great little actors and actresses,” said McAfee.

A JVC Mother’s Day video contest was another win for the McAfees, he said.

As winners of this Hostess contest, the family will receive a four-day and three-night trip in New York City.

What makes a good video for these contests?

“I guess try to make it look as professional as possible. You know, no shaky camera shots and laughing. Just try to make it look as good as you can,” recommended McAfee. Another tip: read the rules.



(To see the winning video, visit www.hostessbeefunny.com.)