Kaitlyn Coogan
Equinox Staff
On Feb. 9, Keene State College senior Kevin Sherry was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Keene Elm City Rotary club for his logo design for the Clarence DeMar Marathon that is hosted every year during the last Sunday of September.
“I think it came out good,” Sherry said. “I think it was what the client was looking for and that’s very important. As long as he is satisfied with it and I hope that it’s a logo that will stick around for a while.”
[singlepic id=890 w=320 h=240 float=right]
According to the Keene Elm City Rotary website, the contest commenced in October when, with the help from KSC faculty, it was launched campuswide. At the beginning, 18 students submitted 28 logo designs but as Alan Stroshine, race coordinator; Ted McGreer, owner of Ted’s Shoe and Sport; as well as a few members of the Rotary Club looked over the pile of submissions, they narrowed it down to four finalists. These four finalists were given more instructions and additional details of what Stroshine was looking for. After the finalists submitted various additional entries, Sherry was chosen for being able to capture Clarence DeMar as a legendary long-distance athlete while also being able to throw some community flavor into the mix with a silhouette of Mount Monadnock, as well as putting the archway of Appian Way where the marathon finishes every year.
“I love it. I think it’s fantastic, said Stroshine. “I think it does a great job trying to represent who Clarence DeMar is to our community. It represents the ties to Keene State College. I am very pleased with the outcome of the logo contest.”
Art Department Chair Robert Kostick helped make the contest known to the students by making posters and informing colleagues about the contest. Kostick also went to the unveiling of the logo at the Rotary Club with Sherry.
“Kevin did a fantastic job,” Kostick said. “I think he represented the student body really well here. He was poised; he came across as a professional. Apparently the other committee members, Alan, Ted, enjoyed him and they enjoyed his involvement in the project. I think that they all feel that they made a good decision on, not only the final project that was designed, but the student they worked with,” he said.
According to Kostick, the Advancement Division of KSC sponsored the scholarship money. Kostick said it is about giving back to KSC and it has do with creating communities, tracking alumni, and giving funding back to the college for different events as well as individual donations.
“I was really proud of [Sherry] and I was proud of our program. It was just nice being invited and being a part of that for the college. It was just really awarding,” Kostick said.
According to Stroshine, the Keene Elm City Rotary club was not always the coordinator of the race. Peerless Insurance originally hosted the event but due to some financial difficulties it was either going to have to shut it down or give it to someone else to take care of it. This is when the Elm City Rotary stepped in, Stroshine said. Next year’s race will be the first time the Rotary will be taking charge. Not only did the organization save the race but it wanted to perpetuate a long standing with KSC, according to Stroshine.
Clarence DeMar was a seven-time winner of the Boston Marathon in the 1930s. He is the only marathoner who has won seven times and the oldest one to win at Boston at the age of 41. DeMar worked at KSC when it was Keene Normal School as an instructor of industrial education. He also worked with the track and cross country teams. The race now finishes next to where he lived on Appian Way.
“It was pretty difficult to get exactly what [Stroshine] was looking for,” Sherry said. “There was a lot of different elements to the marathon he wanted to include in the logo so it was difficult to include all that and make it work cohesively, but I think it came out pretty good in the end.”
Kaitlyn Coogan can be contacted at kcoogan@ksc.mailcruiser.com.