Essay Contest Coordinator

Brothers,

First, May I wish you and your families, A Very Happy New Year!

My name is Ed Smith, and I am the Essay Contest Coordinator for the State of New York.

This is the first year that we have a State wide coordinator and there has been some confusion on how the program would operate. That confusion was compounded by my misunderstanding of the program rules.

After several discussions with Joe Peluso, our State Youth Director, we have decided to try and salvage this year’s program. It is my understanding that many councils did run the program and have been awaiting guidance on how to proceed.

According to contest rules, there should have been a contest at the council level; one at the District level; and then one at the State Level. The plan now is to have all entrants for the state mailed to me by March 1st, meaning that the entries must be postmarked by March 1st. I will then determine the State winner and that entry will be sent to Supreme for the International entry.

There is still time to run a District contest in January and February. I will leave that up to the Chapters and how they want to proceed. I would ask you to get the word out to your Chapters and District Deputies as soon as possible. If District contests are not run, then I would ask that the council winners be submitted to me.

Please note that the Essays that are submitted will not be returned. The essays should have the name of the Entrant, their age, and council / area submitted from.

My address is:
Ed Smith
5499 Fortuna Parkway
Clay, NY 13041

There is no doubt in my mind that there will be questions on this. Please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me and I will get you an answer.

The winner of this year’s contest will be announced at the convention in May.

I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused. I can promise you all that I now have a grasp on this and next year’s contest will be started and promoted on time.

Please get this info out now!

Vivat Jesus!
Ed Smith
Essay Contest Coordinator
(315) 491-4237