Ava Shinaver Wins Middleburgh Flag Contest

MIDDLEBURGH - Middleburgh high school student Ava Shinaver is the winner of the design and draw of the official Middleburgh Village flag contest.

Ava's design attracted 51 percent of the 149 votes cast. Ava's design includes an outline of Vroman's Nose, with a horse's head emanating from the mountain. The horse's head is surrounded by 16 stars. Mayor Tim Knight made the announcement Monday night.

Coming in second was Hunter Nelson with 18 percent and third was Rivo Strakosh with 15.4 percent. Zoe Hendrickson's drawing came in fourth.

Trustee Sheryl Adams praised all the entries as "very unique." Trustee Amanda Fernandez said all the entries were great. "It's hard to put yourselves out there."

Trustee Bob Tinker said he would donate $50 to make the design into a flag.

"It's a village flag and we need to fly it," he added.

The village board, along with Middleburgh Central School District Social Studies teachers Jason Dannible and Katelynn Schuttig, collected the four submissions from MCS students to design/draw an Official Flag for the Village of Middleburgh.

The intention of this project was to: (A.) give MCS students an opportunity to interact with the Village and be part of our community through this process, (B.) create a unique symbol for the Village, and (C.) have a fun, community-oriented project for all of Middleburgh.

After the submissions were made public, the village opened up a vote for the People’s Choice Flag. The vote was on the village's Facebook page and website. Votes were collected until June 1.

The village wants to thank the students who submitted a design for the contest and Mr. Dannible and Ms. Schuttig.

Ava will receive $50 for the “people’s choice” winner. There will be no taxpayer expense.

More announcements will be made on Heritage Day this summer.