Millersburg resident said he is honored to have his design selected to be the Millersburg 2007 Bicentennial logo
By Sarah Troutman
Chris Dietz of Millersburg is pictured with his winning submission for the Millersburg 2007 Bicentennial logo. (Sentinel photo by SarahTroutman)
Millersburg resident Chris Dietz feels it an honor to have his design chosen for the Millersburg 2007 Bicentennial logo.
“When I read the advertisement announcing the need for submissions, I immediately began working on ideas,” Dietz said.
He’s always had an interest in history and thought it would be “really cool to be a part of the town’s history.”
Thus, work on the design began.
The slogan “Celebrating 200 years and the future begins with us” was to be visible, and Dietz said he considered it an interesting challenge: merging the past with a sense of the contemporary.
Dietz said he originally tried utilizing traditional Millersburg images of the train station, the ferry, the bandstand, and the swinging bridge, but when he tried to fit them all in, “the balance wasn’t right, it was too busy,” he said.
“Because the gazebo and ferry are more popular with out-of-towners” they remained in the submitted image, Dietz said.
Photo of the Millersburg ferry on the Susquehanna River, by Chris Dietz.
Dietz decided to use an oval, based on the many modern oval-shaped vehicle stickers identifying favorite vacation destinations, like the outer Banks (OBX).
Just what MAWT wanted. This, along with contemporary lettering choices, gave his submission the modern look that was hoped for by the Millersburg Area Working Together executive committee.
The executive committee tapped into the experience of local artist Jim Stutzman and Millersburg Area School District art teacher Ann Koppenhaver for their comments on the seven logo submissions that the committee received from various people.
The artists gave feedback concerning color, balance, and the blending of styles for the winning entry, said Lorena Lemons, secretary for the executive committee.
Photo of an Amish buggy and horse traversing a roadway beside an open field, by Chris Dietz.
MAWT now owns the slogan and Dietz’s submission.
It was used on a recent borough newsletter and on a float in the Memorial Day parade.
It is displayed currently at The Gallery on the Square and the public will be seeing more of it in the future as the bicentennial celebration approaches.
Drawn to Millersburg. Dietz, originally from Perry County, has lived in Millersburg for 2 years, having lived formerly in Elizabethville.
He was “drawn to the friendly people here” and has noticed that some of the architecture around town is “pretty amazing,” he said.
Dietz said he appreciates “the feel of Millersburg and the green space of the central plaza, MYO and Seal Park.”
“Design-minded.” From the time he was a child Dietz has been creative, first utilizing Tinker Toys and Legos, advancing ultimately to his tenure of 6 years as mechanical engineer at Dauphin Graphics.
His work there “allows technical aspects of creativity to merge with artistic expression, even while working with sheet metal,” he said.
Dietz has always been “design-minded,” so it was a pleasure to work on the challenge of merging historical images with contemporary design elements for MAWT.
He spent close to 20 hours on his computer-aided design and was not happy until after the eleventh rendition, the one he submitted.
It is now part of Millersburg’s history, just as Dietz desired.
Dietz also dabbles in photography, having taken a class at Harrisburg Area Community College.
His work is available at The Gallery on the Square and is on display for purchase at Polish-n-Style, a salon operated by Kathie Lander on Center Street.
