American Legion Post 11 recently announced the local winners of the essay contest.

Fifth graders gathered in the Greene County Middle School gym to find out who won the “What the Flag Means to Me” contest. Addison Walker won first place and received $50. Second place went to Alyssa Gerdes and she won $25. Third place was Danica Goff-Hueser and she received $10. Walker describes her initial reaction to winning the top prize.

“I was really excited because I wasn’t expecting that. I was just really surprised. I just really like doing this essay and it was really fun.”

She talks about what the different parts of the flag means to her.

“The red, it means the blood that the soldiers shed for us. The white means snow because, to me, they can fight on the hottest or the coldest days, and they fight whenever they can. The stars are for all the soldiers who died for us, and I feel like whenever they die, then their stars go up into the sky, because all of them are special stars.”

Instructor Kim Braun also received a certificate of appreciation for her continued support of the American Legion contest. Walker has been invited to present her essay at the American Legion’s Memorial Day service in May.