The third-grade students at Pike Liberal Arts waited excitedly Tuesday for the winner of the TroyFest T-shirt Design Contest to be announced. They knew it was one of them but which one?
Although each student was hoping to hear his or her named announced, the applause and cheers were genuine when Tate Gardner’s name was called.
Tate’s TroyFest designed was selected from more than 300 entries from schools throughout the county. Her design will be the featured artwork on the TroyFest T-shirts that will be sold at the annual arts and crafts show April 26 and 27 on the square in downtown Troy.
“We had so many great designs submitted and it was a hard decision for the judges to make,” said Catherine Jordan, chair of the TroyFest T-shirt design committee. “But it came down to Tate’s butterfly design and it’s a great choice. We congratulate Tate as our winner and all of those who participated. All of the designs would have looked great on our festival T-shirt but we could only have one.”
Tate’s design is a colorful butterfly, a TroyFest kind of butterfly that lives only in the imagination of its creator.
“There’s not a real butterfly like this,” Tate said with a smile. “I used three colors that I like. They are summer colors. This is not the only butterfly I drew but it’s the one I liked best.”
Tate said her first idea for the TroyFest T-shirt Design competition was a donut.
“But I couldn’t make it look like I wanted it to so I drew a butterfly and I liked it better.”
Tate said she was excited to win and more excited that her design will on the TroyFest T-shirts.
“I like going to TroyFest,” Tate said. “It’s a lot of fun and I especially like the wood carvings. All of the art is beautiful and the candy is good. It’s just all fun.”
Ceil Sikes, PLAS headmaster, said Tate is very deserving of the recognition.
“She is a good student and she’s involved in many activities.  She’s on the Xtreme cheerleading team and she will be a fairy in the production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Troy University next week.
“At PLAS, we like for our students to be involved in the community as well as in school activities. Tate is very involved and we a very proud of this recognition of her creativity.”
The 2014 TroyFest T-shirts are $12 each and are available at the Colley Senior Complex or by calling 334-372-1231.