PHOTO PROVIDED Ed Herman from the Muncy Lions Club is with Meaghan Dipre, an 8th grade student at Muncy whose drawing won a local contest sponsored by the Lions organization. It will be submitted to International competition for the Peace Poster contest.

MUNCY – Meaghan Dipre, an 8th grade student at Muncy Jr./Sr. High School, has taken the first step to becoming an internationally recognized artist by winning a local competition sponsored by the Muncy Area Lions Club.

Dipre’s poster was among more than 600,000 entries submitted worldwide in the 30th annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the contest to emphasize the importance of world peace to young people everywhere.

“While making the poster, I tried be sure to include flags of all countries because we should be at peace with all of them” , the 13 year-old from Muncy said. The poster was selected by Mary Bennardi, School Board Member; Bill Kahler, Muncy Area Lions Club President; David Moyer, Local Artist/PCT Faculty and Timothy Welliver, Muncy Jr./Sr. High School Principal, for its originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the contest theme “The Future of Peace”. The judging of 40 local entries was held on November 7th at Muncy High School.

Muncy Area Lions Club President Bill Kahler said he was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students of Muncy Jr./Sr. High School Art Class. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”

Dipre’s poster will advance to face stiff competition through the district, multiple district and international competition if she is to be declared the international grand prize winner, Kahler said.

PHOTO PROVIDED The Muncy Lions club sponsored a Peace Poster contest at Muncy High School. With Ed Herman (far left) and principal Tim Welliver (far right) are Meaghan Dipre, Cody Duchman and Alaina Brelsford who have been honored for their participation by the Muncy Area Lions Club, and were presented with certificates and monetary prizes.

One grand prize winner and 23 merit winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash award of $5,000, plus trip for the winner and two family members to an award ceremony. The 23 merit award winners will each receive a certificate and a cash award of $500.

“Our club is cheering for Meaghan as her poster advances in the competition, and we hope her vision will ultimately be shared with others around the world” said Ed Herman, Project Chairman for Muncy Area Lions Club.

Locally, Dipre, Cody Duchman and Alaina Brelsford have been honored for their participation by the Muncy Area Lions Club, and were presented with certificates and monetary prizes.

View international grand prize and merit winners at www.lionsclubs,org.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.4 million members in more than 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographic areas. In addition to its efforts toward conquering blindness, the organization has made a strong commitment to community service and helping youth throughout the world.

For more information about the Muncy Area Lions Club, visit their Facebook page.