By Cecelia Ellis
For The Republic
NORTH VERNON — In celebration of the discovery of North Vernon’s long-lost official logo, colorful banners were raised up and down the streets of North Vernon on Wednesday.
Alongside the banners depicting the logo are also banners displaying the updated official seal of the city of North Vernon.
Created by local artist Patricia C. Franks, the logo design was selected as the winner of a communitywide competition held years ago to find an appropriate logo for city use. The logo was then recognized as North Vernon’s official logo in 1988.
Soon after being recognized as the official city logo, the packet holding the original logo design was misplaced among unrelated paperwork and misfiled in the top floor of city hall where it remained hidden for 32 years, officials said.
It was not until January of 2020 that the lost city logo was rediscovered when mayor’s assistant Tanya Burnette was looking for a place to store the city’s excess Christmas decorations.
“I don’t know what made me look at those papers, but when I moved the envelope, the design just kind of fell out. I was just so amazed when I figured out what it was,” Burnette said.
Burnette added that as she examined the paperwork with the design, she could see why the design had been chosen as the North Vernon logo.
“It’s incredible what (Franks) saw way back then,” Burnette said. “There’s a train car in the background. We were called ‘the railroad city’ then, but the railroads were already slipping into North Vernon’s past. She included the sun which symbolized the future to her and now, we are called ‘the solar city.’”
Franks said she wanted to encapsulate the city in her work.
“Everything in my design does mean something; the images and even the colors all symbolize something about North Vernon. Its past, its future and its people,” she said.
North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs and members of the city hall staff caught Burnette’s excitement soon after she found the documents. It was about time to reorder the city’s official stationary when it was decided to begin including the logo on official correspondence along with the city’s official seal.
“The seal now says we are the solar city, but the caboose on the logo recognizes our past,” Burnette said. “The logo and the seal together represent North Vernon’s past and our future.”
Everything was ready to go to introduce the new city seal and the rediscovered logo when COVID-19 hit.
“Everything stopped for COVID, just like it did for everything everywhere but now we can go forward with this,” Burnette said.
Since festivals and events were canceled, there was money left in the festival pre-allocated funds, so the banners could be ordered for the streets and other upcoming events could be planned, Burnette said.
For the next seven weeks there will be a celebration of North Vernon’s past and future, including a flag-raising ceremony in September. More details are soon to be released.
