Logo sought for Great Penny Drive

Michelle Elpi is asking Sisters area residents to create a logo for the ongoing students' Great Penny Drive, which will help fund local charities. The winning design will go on the display container which will ultimately contain one million pennies.

The original plan was to have all of the coins collected and on display by rodeo weekend.

"Progress has been slow," Elpi said.

Right now the container is about four inches deep with pennies. This amounts to about 100,000 pennies or one tenth of the goal. The collection period will be extended through the 1997-98 school year.

The Penny Drive Committee - Elpi, Elizabeth Ward, Andrew Hyde and adult advisor Trish Beasman plans to have other promotional events throughout the coming year. Elpi and Ward have been busy moving the heavy pennies from the collection bottles, located all over Sisters, to Sisters High School, then upstairs to the display container.

"There were pennies all over Mrs. Beasman's office, in all kinds of containers," said Elpi.

The steel reinforced container, designed and built by Brent Sorensen, rests on five six-inch diameter casters. Each caster can hold 900 pounds. When full, the assembly will weigh close to 4,000 pounds.

"Its heavy duty" said Sorensen.

The plywood box has a viewing window in its side. It will take two of these containers to hold all of the coins. When full, the boxes will be displayed so that all can see what one million pennies looks like.

One million pennies, laid end to end would stretch for almost twelve miles. A stack of a million pennies would be more than a mile high. One million pennies could pave an area of about 3,700 square feet.

The population of the Sisters area is about ten thousand people. If everyone in the community contributes one hundred pennies, the drive will reach its goal.

Contributors can bring spare pennies to the two-liter bottles at most Sisters merchants. When the High School opens in September, collections can be made at the display container.

Logo contest entry forms are available at Ray's Market. For information about the contest or the penny drive call 5485669.