'Eagles' logo winner announced
  
Linda Quinlan/Post Staff

March 07, 2002

Graphic artist Helen Barry of Irondequoit came up with the winning design.

The Irondequoit Eagles now have a face to go with their new name.

The West Irondequoit Central School District announced Friday, March 1, that 
the winner of its logo design competition is Helen P. Barry of Helen P. Barry 
Graphic Design, 70 Kings Gate South.

Barry's bold, crisp design of an eagle head, with the words "Irondequoit Eagles," 
was chosen by a jury of six artists from a field of 106 entries from 43 different 
designers.

The school board decided late last summer to retire the district's "Indians" mascot 
because some behaviors associated with the name could be offensive to Native 
Americans. The action had also been strongly suggested by Richard Mills, state 
commissioner of education.

During a fall vote that was a culmination of a search for a new name, "Eagles" 
was chosen as the "Indians" successor.

Barry said she was surprised and pleased her design - one of four she submitted - 
was chosen.

"But if it was up to me, we'd probably still be 'Indians,'" Barry said.

A graphic artist by training and profession, Barry has done design work out of 
her home for 10 years. Her husband, John, and neighbors urged her to enter the 
competition

Thinking an eagle with wings would be "too much," she chose an eagle's head and 
face, then envisioned it in a kind of circle, Barry said.

"I wanted it (the logo) to look fast, like a sports team running," she said, 
explaining that, "sometimes less is more; the key to a good logo is something 
that reproduces well."

Versions of the logo, often with the words "Irondequoit Eagles," will appear on 
team uniforms, school planners and notebooks, and elsewhere throughout the district.

"It's magnificent. I'm excited. We're ready to move forward now," the district's 
director of athletics, Dennis Fries, said.

He said he especially liked what he called the "fluid motion" of the design.

Fries added that the first bid for new uniforms for the 2002-03 school year won't 
go out until the end of April.

"You won't find Eagles or the new logo on uniforms this year," he said.

It certainly will be showing up on future athletes.

"I've never done anything this widespread before, that will be around for a while," 
Barry said.

She has left her mark on the district, already, however. She also designed a logo 
that appears on T-shirts and sweatshirts sold as a fund-raiser by the district's 
PTA. That logo features a star above all the names of district schools.

Barry, a native of Long Island who has called Irondequoit home for 16 years, has 
two children, Michael, a fourth grader at Rogers Middle School, and Laura, a 
seventh grader at Dake Junior High.

She has been an active volunteer in the schools, serving as a room parent and a 
chair of the PTA Reflections art contest.

A jury chaired by Irondequoit High School art department coordinator Robert Geroux 
convened Feb. 27 and spent three hours pouring over the logo entries before selecting 
Barry's logo. The vote was unanimous.

"What we do here today becomes the future of the Irondequoit Eagles. In a very real 
sense, we're moving us forward while we give something back to our community," Geroux 
told the group he had assembled. 

The remaining jurors were: award-winning Irondequoit artist and illustrator John 
Pata; non-resident artist Luvon Shepherd, a Rochester Institute of Technology art 
professor; alumni artist Laddawan Juhong, a foreign exchange student from Thailand; 
student artist Chelsea Davidson; and local businesswoman Mary Lou Wilson of Bob 
Wright Creative Group. Fries and IHS varsity tennis coach Willie Buchholz served 
in an ex-officio capacity.

Students were shown the new logo last Friday. Fries said students who have come 
to him have been positive about it, "but that doesn't mean they're all happy with 
it. You can't expect that right off the bat."

Jurors focused on selecting an entry that was strongly connected to the qualities 
in the definition of "Eagles" presented to the community, students, staff and alumni 
at the time the new name was selected last November, district spokeswoman Theresa 
Werth said.

The community said they "wanted an image that reflected the 21st century, would be 
equally effective and appropriate on men's or women's uniforms, possessed "eye 
impact," and was immediately recognizable and dignified, Werth said.

The new "Irondequoit Eagles" name and logo will be formally adopted during a 7 p.m. 
ceremony Friday, May 3, in the Alumni Courtyard at Irondequoit High School. The 
"Indians" name will also be respectfully retired at that time. 

The class of 2002 will be the last IHS class to use the "Indian" name, Werth said, 
but added, "and of course, all current IHS alumni will be 'Indians forever.'" 

©Irondequoit Post 2002