By ANTHONY BOTTAN
The village's Centennial Committee hosted a contest in March, searching for a new village logo to be showcased at the 2011 anniversary celebration. After evaluating about 30 entries, the committee chose 1999 Lynbrook High School graduate Meri Stewart's design.
"I was pretty intent on having the American flag in it," Stewart said of her design, in which the flag is incorporated into the Lynbrook emblem. "It needed to have that to show that it's an American town and still stands strong. That was my idea."
The Centennial Committee comprised some two dozen residents, and was headed by Trustee Alan Beach and Deputy Mayor Bill Hendrick. Committee member Maryanne Hoesel said that the designs were voted on one at a time, and Stewart's stood out. "We chose this logo because it was a classic design that fit all the criteria that we required," Hoesel explained. "It is a timeless design that will be part of Lynbrook's history for years to come."
Stewart, 27, has been designing monthly advertising fliers for Restaurant Depot for the past three years. She said she found out about the contest while reading the Herald and decided to play around with some ideas that would reflect Lynbrook's history, but also have a modern flair.
"I knew I wanted to stick with the Lynbrook colors of blue and yellow and keep the original look of it," she said. "But when I design things, sometimes it just happens, and this is what came out. Sometimes inspiration comes out of nowhere."
The design took Stewart only two hours to put together, she said. She received a congratulatory letter in May for her winning entry, along with a prize of a $200 bond. "I live in the town, so I thought it would be interesting to enter the contest," she said. "It was kind of on a whim. I figured I'd challenge myself, and that's what happened."
Creative design talent apparently runs in Stewart's family: Her father, Ray, who worked for the Lynbrook Police Department for 26 years, had a hand in designing two of the police patches. "I feel very proud that she got some recognition, finally," he said. "She's a hard worker and deserves this. I am so happy that she won."
Mayor Brian Curran said he will be proud to see Stewart's design showcased during the village's year-long centennial celebration. He noted that her logo will also be displayed on the back wall of the village board room in Village Hall and appear on village letterhead. "The logo is fantastic," Curran said. "It really represents and demonstrates what Lynbrook is."
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