New ‘Welcome to Easton’ Signs Unveiled

There are barns, cows, pigs, tractors, reservoirs, fish, and trees. Lots of tress. Those are the images that come to mind when Easton elementary and middle school students think of their hometown. They are also the images that will grace two new ‘Welcome to Easton” signs welcoming vistors to the community.

Thirty one students from Samuel Staples Elementary School and 91 Helen Keller Middle School  students submitted their version of ‘What Easton Means To Me’ in an art project sponsored by the Easton Planning and Zoning Commission.

The project was a collaborative effort that involved the Easton Arts Center and Easton Arts Council, which judged the drawings. The only requirement for the designs was the text “Welcome to Easton” and “Est.1845,” the date Easton was established. The rest was pure creativity and imagination. 

The two signs were unveiled on June 18 at Samuel Staples Elementary School in an event attended by many of the students who participated in the contest,  State Senator Tony Hwang, Justin Giorlando, Easton’s land use consultant, Planning and Zoning Commission member Alison Sternberg, and Sheila Weaver with the Easton Arts Council. 

The two signs are a collage based on many of the images elementary and middle students submitted during the contest.

“It was a great opportunity for the kids to be involved in something that will be part of history because this is their town, their future, and the signs represent what Easton means to them,” said Weaver.

There were nine contest winners. They are: Helen Keller Middle School students Avery Young, Christopher Alvarda, and Brooke Hall. From Samuel Staples Elementary School the winners are: Michael Giorlando, Jeremy Kokenos, Parker Castle, Alis Gormley, Lanley Sogofsky, Margot Beckerlegge.

Sternberg said the proposed sites for the two signs are by the Merritt Parkway and the four corners.

“Those those two arteries will showcase what our town is about,” said Sternberg.