The Hurricane Art Contest, sponsored by the Royal Gazette's Hurricane Supplement , was a big hit with the Island's school children submitting 275 vibrant hand drawings.

Children ages five to ten entered drawings for the third consecutive year with this year's theme, "Scary Storms and Flying Objects''.

They were judged at the Royal Gazette by art professionals, Marlee Robinson and Louisa Flannery of the Bermuda National Gallery.

"We loved doing this competition. There is a bounty of young talent represented through various mediums of watercolour, pastels, pen and ink, and crayons.

"We liked that children followed the size rules and came up with clever captions for their drawings,'' the judges remarked.

Age five category received 26 entries and it was won by Scott Burnard who attends Mount Saint Agnes Academy, entitled, `My Cat and my Flowers are Outside'.

Age six category received 34 entries and the winner was Ryan Roberts who attends Saltus Cavendish.

Age seven category received 54 entries and the winner was Ellen Amaral for `The Big Blow'.

Age eight had the largest number of entries, 64, and two winners were selected in this category as opposed to one. Normally this does not happen but Ceola Wade's `Raging Storm' and William Greet-Hillier's `Storms in Bermuda' were both captivating and the judges felt compelled to award them equally. Both students attend Montesorri Academy.

Age nine had 58 entries and the winner was Julian Fletcher who attends the Saltus Junior School, entitled, `Out of Bounds'.

Age ten had 39 entries and the winner was Michiko Campbell of East End Primary, a fascinating picture with bats flying from a black sky.

The judges were impressed with a significant number of these impressive drawings from ages 5 to 10 and altogether awarded 31 Honourable Mentions detailed as follows: Age 5: Nicholas Bergquist, Claudia Lockwood, Francis Laing,Naomi Vidiz and Colin Young.

Age 6: James McNichols, Jonathan Bzdel, Thomas Mahoney, Tara Johnson, Matthew Hogan, Charlotte Marie, and Pansy Olander.

Age 7: Suhaila Tucker, Melissa Rodriques, Joe Wyatt, Tom Lonergan, Debra Curly and Jack Trimble.

Age 8: Alex Thompson, Michael Coles, Azzura Lalani, Andrew Leslie and Dylan Runkel.

Age 9: Megan Mahoney, Ryan Branco, Chloe Baron, Miguel Vasconcelos, and Jessica Gibbons.

Age 10: Damika Swan, Sam Kessaram and Jordan Hassell.

Additionally two ten year old students were honoured with Exceptional Promise, Joanna Hamer for `In the Path of a Hurricane' and Matthew Rego for `Disaster on Front Street'. Both of these artists attend Saltus Junior School.

A lively reception was held in honour of these outstanding artists at the Royal Gazette on June 5 and the winners received gift certificates, in the sum of 25 dollars, from William J.S. Zuill, Editor.

We thank everyone who participated in our art contest and look forward to next year's.

The drawings may be collected at the front desk of the Royal Gazette after June 15.

Page 24 Michiko Campbell's winning drawing, age 10.

Michiko Campbell, age 10.

Ryan Roberts' winning drawing, age 6.

Julian fletcher's, `Out of Bounds', winner age 9.

Ellen Amaral's, `The Big Blow', winner age 7.