TWO island residents won Marianas Variety’s t-shirt design contest for an upcoming reunion of Peace Corps volunteers.
The winners, Jose Rabago and Tiffanny Valencia Gebhard, will each receive $300.
According to Jean Olopai, a former Peace Corps volunteer, there was only supposed to be one winner, but the selection committee — composed of former Peace Corps members now living in the States —found both Rabago’s and Gebhard’s work “too good” to choose just one.
Joanne Merrick’s design will receive an “honorable mention” and will be used to design name tags for the group, Olopai said.
The contest was launched in December of last year. Participants were required to submit a digital image of their artwork, its title, and a brief description.
Olopai said the group of former Peace Corps members had served in the Northern Marianas from around 1966 to 1977, when the islands were still under the Trust Territory government administered by the U.S.
“The first volunteers that came… the majority of them were educators or were into community development,” Olopai said. “The ones that tended to come later…worked [for offices that provided government] support.”
They will be on Saipan in April and will tour the island to see how it has changed.
In 1978, the Northern Marianas became a U.S. Commonwealth.
Jose Rabago, 2nd left, and Tiffany Valencia Gebhard, 2nd right, display their winning t-shirt designs as they pose for a photo with Jean Olopai, right, and Rita Cruz, left.
Jose Rabago’s t-shirt design.
Tiffany Valencia Gebhard’s t-shirt design.
This design by Joanne Merrick will be used for name badges.
