Chamber picks July 4th logo design winner; still looking for royalty candidates

When Kitty Angerman caught wind of the chamber of commerce logo design contest for the Fourth of July, she smelled inspiration right away.

That inspiration - the scent of the Stikine River - won her the grand prize of $1,000, and her design will appear on posters, T-shirts, hat, cups and more.

Angerman was the first to submit an entry into the contest, followed by 22 more. Chamber executive director Brittani Robbins said they decided to go with a contest this year rather than pay someone for a design to get the community more involved in the process. The theme of this year's Fourth of July events is "A River Runs Through Us."

Though there aren't any runners-up, Robbins said the chamber plans to ask some of the artists if the organization can buy their art to make stickers to give away.

The winner was announced May 9, and the results were a surprise to Angerman.

"I'm so excited. I'm so happy," she said.

Angerman said she was inspired by the smell of the river when she started the project.

"Around Southeast, no matter where you go, each place has its own smell," she said. "So does the river. I thought, 'How can I draw the smell of the river?' Up the river, you're usually getting a breeze from the east. It's got that fresh, clean smell of snow and glaciers."

Angerman incorporated movement to represent the breeze and decided "Wrangell" needed to appear large at the top of the design instead of smaller and at the bottom. "It was kind of weird. I only had one idea. Sometimes I'll come up with three, four or five," she said.

When it comes to her winnings, Angerman said she's thinking about putting half in her piggy bank to donate to next year's contest.

Along with the logo contest, Robbins said the chamber is still looking for contestants for the royalty contest, which is the annual fundraiser to bankroll the chamber's Fourth of July events the following year. Candidates sell raffle tickets through food sales and other efforts.

Raffle winners in past years have received cash prizes. The contestants get to keep a percentage of their sales.

So far, only one person has signed up for the contest, and Robbins said the chamber has been "advertising on social media, bulletin boards, KSTK, (Wrangell Sentinel) stories, and we went to the high school and presented to all the kids 14 and up."

Robbins said it has been increasingly difficult to get people to sign up for the contest year after year.

The royalty contest begins on May 31 and runs through June. The person with the highest sales wins the title of king or queen and runners-up win prince or princess. Sign-up forms and more information can be obtained at the chamber of commerce office inside the Stikine Inn.