Date: Fri 06-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-license-plate-Kellogg

Full Text:

with cut: Scholarship Association Renews License Plate Fundraiser

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

What's not to like about an "Historic Newtown" license plate bearing a Steven

Kellogg design of a jaunty rooster crowing proudly in front of the town's

landmark flagpole?

Even if residents must pay $89 to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles

(DMV) to order the plate (it is similar in appearance to the familiar Long

Island Sound plate), who wouldn't buy one? Especially if $24 of the purchase

price were tax-deductible and could be donated to the Newtown Scholarship

Association (NSA) fund?

"It's not out there yet," said NSA committee member Kathie Trocolla recently,

but if she and plate drive committee members Bridget Kellogg, Karin Rennert

and Liz Jeltema can sell the idea to more than 200 Newtown residents, it soon

will be.

Mrs Trocolla hopes everyone will appreciate the fact that Mr Kellogg, a

resident of Sandy Hook, donated his time and talents toward creating this

unique plate design.

"If you've grown up with kids in Sandy Hook, they all have books autographed

by him," she said.

She said Friday that committee members will march in the Labor Day parade,

walking the sidelines and wearing facsimiles of the plates for all to see.

"We'll hand out fliers to anyone who wants one," she added.

Not A New Idea

The idea of using the special interest plate as a fundraiser to benefit

Newtown students is not a new one.

It was two years ago that Mr Kellogg agreed to design the rooster logo to

assist the Sandy Hook PTA in raising funds for playground improvement, Mrs

Trocolla.

As an avid fan of Mr Kellogg and his books, she said she had worked on that

campaign, envisioning hundreds of the colorful plates riding around town on

the front and back ends of residents' cars. But generating enough orders to

make the plate a reality was difficult.

Even though the PTA fundraiser began in December 1995 and orders for nearly

100 plates were received by March 1996, the total fell short of the 200 needed

by the DMV before it would produce the plates in quantity.

"We knew if we could get the first 200 out on the street, people would notice

them. Unfortunately, most residents outside of the Sandy Hook school

population weren't even aware of the idea," Mrs Trocolla said.

As a result, it seemed the license plate fundraiser had died an untimely

death.

Six months later, the idea has been given a second chance and Mrs Trocolla

hopes, this time, the drive will succeed because the scope of the project has

been expanded.

Profits may now be dedicated not only to the Sandy Hook PTA (if the original

donors decide to renew their orders), but also to the Newtown Scholarship

Association.

The NSA fund rewards excellence among Newtown students throughout the town's

several school districts, usually in the form of awards made to seniors

graduating from high school. NSA scholarships recognize academic excellence,

leadership, community service and character and the monetary awards help

recipients pay college tuition costs.

As a long-established group in town, the NSA is always seeking new ways to

gather funds. It has embraced the idea of selling the plates to boost its

coffers.

"It's been wonderful to have a group come up to us and say `We'd like to work

for you.' People are excited about this. It's something we can all get

behind," said NSA President Debbie Osborne.

Mrs Trocolla and her committee plan to contact all those who originally

ordered the plates and ask them to renew their applications.

Each additional order - and Mrs Trocolla hopes there will be many - will see

the $24 tax-free donation going directly to the NSA fund to benefit students.

Armed with DMV application information, a red, yellow and blue picture of Mr

Kellogg's rooster and plenty of facts about the scholarship association, Mrs

Trocolla and her committee are making what she called "personal appeals,"

speaking to town groups, such as the Historic Commission, the Historic Society

and local PTAs.

She might also be sharing one interesting twist to the license plate story,

Mrs Trocolla said, in that committee member Bridget Kellogg's husband, Ken

Kellogg, is a distant relative of the well-known children's book

artist/illustrator.

"If you go back far enough, he's a tenth cousin," Mrs Kellogg said of her

husband.

But that's not why she's working on the project. Just like everyone else

working on the NSA "Historic Newtown" license plate fundraising campaign, Mrs

Kellogg thinks it's an idea whose time has come.

Anyone interested in receiving information about the "Historic Newtown"

license plate, should call 426-0478 or 426-6532.