BRADFORD — Officials from the Miami County Solid Waste District (MCSWD) held a special presentation ceremony on its annual billboard contest to honor winner Sarah Beckstedt at Bradford High School Wednesday, Feb 22. The annual contest chooses between recycling drawing entries for the winners’ designs to placed on a billboard in Miami County.

MCSWD Coordinator Brad Petry presented Beckstedt with a bag of prizes and a rendering of what the finished billboard will look like. Beckstedt’s artwork shows plastic bags and other items that don’t belong in recycling bins.

Beckstedt is a senior at Bradford High School. Bradford Schools Superintendent John Hurst and Bradford High School teacher Sharon Moore also attended the ceremony.

Beckstedt’s artwork will be installed on a billboard near Chevrolet of Troy before Earth Day on Saturday, April 22. Her entry was one of two chosen from over 70 submissions received by the Solid Waste District.

“We looked for content, of course,” Petry said. “One of the things that we try to gauge is, is it something that would actually be able to be captured on a billboard, that motorists passing through would be able to see and absorb?”

“I honestly, totally wasn’t expecting it,” Beckstedt said of winning the contest. “A lot of people always comment that my art is really good, and how I’m always really inspired.”

The contest’s other winner, Adelaide Aikman, 11, of Bradford, was honored during a separate ceremony held on Friday, Feb. 17. Aikman’s artwork will be featured on a billboard located on U.S. Route 36 near Spiker Road.

This is the sixth year for the MCSWD Billboard Contest, which was open to all K-12 students in Miami County.

“That’s one of the biggest things,” Petry said. “Being able to have a picture to visualize that, this is going to help to drive that message even further.”