The residents of Monkton will be voting at Town Meeting on March 6 to select a town flag. Voting will occur at the Monkton Central School gym between 10 AM – 1 PM and 4 PM – 7 PM.
“This has been a wonderful community-building experience,” said Jonathan Corcoran of the Monkton Community Coffeehouse who organized the project. “Voting on our flag will spark a fire and set the stage for June 24th when Monkton celebrates its 250th birthday.”
The project was launched in December. Residents had until February 1 to submit their entries and applications. The school, town hall, library and the Monkton General Store served as pick-up and drop-off points for entries. Thirty-four entries were received including fourteen from Monkton Central School sixth grade students and from a workshop with the Monkton Boy Scouts.
Eight judges from a wide range of backgrounds were selected from the community to score and vote on the top five entries. Scoring criteria included rating the images and symbols, the colors, the lay-out and the overall impact of the design. The judges were Pete Aube, Carmelita Burritt, Kristen Farrell, Michaela Granstrom, Dale Helms, Charlie Huizenga, Rob Hunter and Candace Polzella.
“Everyone who entered a design had a real challenge to capture the variety this town has to offer. Seeing all the designs really reinforced this diversity of community.” said Rob Hunter, Monkton Community Coffeehouse member and flag contest judge. “The flag idea is a great tool in bringing this mix of people together. I can’t wait to see which design our community chooses on town meeting day.”
The five final designs will be digitized by a professional graphics artist, Kevin Ruelle of Ruelle Designs in Burlington VT, and exhibited in a 2′ X 3′ format on Town Meeting Day for voting. Residents will vote for their top three choices. The winning flag will be unveiled on June 24th.
The Monkton Flag Project was funded by a community grant from Neat Repeats in Middlebury.