Lake County helps paint the state
Azia Smith earned first place in the county for her project, located in the Lion's Park in Polson. The Paint the State competition had 15 entries from Lake County.
Damon Siech's project in Ronan, for which he earned third place in the county.
Jodesa Brown's project, along Hwy. 93 in Ronan, earned her second place in the county-wide competition.
LAKE COUNTY - An Aug. 20 ceremony in Helena celebrated the winner's of the "Paint the State" contest, including the top three entries from Lake County.
Polson's Azia Smith, Charlo's Jodesa Brown and Ronan's Damon Siech took first, second and third, respectively, out of 15 entries from Lake County. Along with the honor, each earned a cash reward of $1,500, $1,000 or $500.
Azia created a panorama of four gravestones with a coffin in the middle. A sign above the coffin read "Meth by any name kills" and the coffin and gravestones each had several different street names for methamphetamine. She displayed her project in the Lion's Park in Polson.
"I was talking to people and most didn't know that there are more than 500 names for meth," Azia said. "One is ‘Scoobie Snacks' and who would think of that?"
Azia said she worked about four days on her project, with some help from friends and family.
"It was quite a bit of work but it was fun and it was worth it," she said. "I got to learn a lot from doing this project."
Winning was a surprise, Azia said, especially with so many great projects.
"There were so many entries," she said. "I'm glad to see so many kids take the initiative."
The prize money is nice, Azia said, and she plans to save it for college, but she said more importantly, she wanted to get the message out that meth is a dangerous drug.
"It's just a problem that's widespread all over," the Polson freshman said. "I wish it was never invented."
Jodesa created an eight by 12-foot mural with the grim reaper touching a gravestone that says "once." The headstone is one of four in the "Meth Cemetery" and along the left hand side, the mural reads, "Not even once." Jodesa displayed her project at Main St. and U.S. Highway 93 on property owned by Community Bank, Ronan.
Damon's project resembled a windmill and had a circular top that said "Don't let your life revolve around meth." A grim reaper/ghost figure is on the bottom, as well as crimes committed by someone on meth and the ages they committed them. Eventually, the user dies at age 25. His project sat at the intersection of Hwy. 93 and Eisenhower in front of the Red Poppy Art Gallery in Ronan.
To view all the entries from Lake County and around the state, visit www.paintthestatemontana.org.