Senior’s Drawing Wins Town Contest-November 6, 1977

Irene Gerulskis’s Pen and Ink Drawing Selected for Official Norwood Town Checks

A pen and ink drawing of the town hall by Irene Gerulskis, a senior at Norwood High School, has been selected to be reduced and superimposed on all town-issued checks. In a contest initiated by Town Manager John P. Mogan and Asst. School Supt. James Donovan, Miss Gerulskis’s drawing was chosen by eight judges from a field of 19 entries from art classes at the two junior high schools and the high school. Second place went to Joseph Coyne, a junior at the high school, who also holds the distinction of being the winner’s boyfriend.

There was a tie for third place between the drawings submitted by Kim Falor, a senior at the high school, and Patricia O’Rourke, a Junior High North Grade 9 student. Mr. Donovan said the judges had an “extremely difficult” time in making their selections due to the exceptional quality of all the entries which will be on display in the library next week. “It is a tribute to the art teachers and the students that their talents have been so well developed. Art is like anything else. It takes hard work,” he said.

The idea for the contest originated when Mr. Mogan and Frank Hawkins, the town’s data processing contractor, were setting up the new computer center now housed at Junior High South. “The computer prints all the town checks and we wanted something with a town symbol on it to serve as a background on the checks,” Mr. Mogan said. He said everyone involved with the contest was pleased with the high quality of the work submitted.

The entries were judged on Monday and Miss Gerulskis said she was completely surprised when she was called to the principal’s office yesterday and informed she had won. “All the way to the office I was trying to figure out what I had done to get into trouble,” she said. Adding to her surprise was the fact that before the judging she thought her rendition of the town hall may have been too detailed to win.

An art major who wants to be an art teacher some day, she said her father is an artist and “I guess it just runs in the family.” She said those wishing to enter the contest did so voluntarily. She worked from two photographs of the building.

The eight judges were Mr. Mogan and Mr. Hawkins; Joseph McDonough, the town treasurer; School Supt. Philip O. Coakley; school committee Chairman Richard W. Kief; M. Jacqueline Munroe, art department head at the high school; Veronica Sandler-Bell, art teacher at Junior High South, and Helen Gregory, art department head at Junior High North. The entries are presently on display in the school committee meeting room in the Winslow School.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger