Jan 17, 2003 2 min read

FARMINGTON – The National Park Service will celebrate George Washington’s birthday with an art contest at Fort Necessity National Battlefield. An awards ceremony to honor the winners will be held at the Fort Necessity Visitor Center on Saturday, Feb. 22.

“The objective of this contest is to encourage students to learn historically correct facts about George Washington,” said park manager Joanne Hanley. “We encourage students to do research before choosing a subject.”

The National Park Service sent contest guidelines to all area schools. All fourth-, fifth- and sixth- grade students are invited to participate in this event by submitting an entry in one of two categories.

“The Life of Washington” theme encompasses any depiction of an event in his life.

“The Washington In Fayette” theme covers any depiction of his activities in Fayette County. Pictures must depict historically correct facts in order to be eligible for prizes. The judges will be looking for originality and historic accuracy, indicating that the students did research on the topic. Contest entries should be on paper no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches. Entries must be postmarked by Monday, Feb. 3, or hand delivered to Fort Necessity by close of business at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5. Students must include their name, school, grade, home address, telephone number and the category they are entering on a separate sheet of paper.

The address is Art Contest, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, 1 Washington Parkway, Farmington, Pa. 15437. For rules and entry forms, call 724-329-5512 or stop by the Visitor Center at Fort Necessity National Battlefield.

Rules and entry forms are also available on line at www.nps.gov/fone.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield is located 11 miles east of Uniontown on Route 40, the National Road.