A windjammer in full sail is passing by an island with a lighthouse, pine trees stand strong and full on a distant shore. Seagulls fly above while buoys bob in the blue water, and fireworks dot the sky. This scene Georgia Griffith created is the winning design for the 60th anniversary of Boothbay Harbor’s Windjammer Days Festival.

“I was surprised more than anything else,” said the Southport Central School sixth grader after her teacher, Julie Higgins, told her the news. “I entered last year too. Our (art) teacher let us get inspiration from YouTube tutorials on how to draw a schooner and pictures of lighthouses. I had a pretty good idea from my design last year and I added the islands, the lighthouse and trees.”

Griffith sketched the design in pencil. She used color pencils to fill in the drawing and a ball point pen for lining. 

Griffith tied for second place in 2021 with Oriana Taylor. Recalled Griffith’s grandmother, Nancy McCullough, “She took (the news she did not win) so easily last year. I’m so excited for her this year. She’s so talented.”

Griffith’s favorite parts of the festival are the fireworks and the windjammers. The latter isn’t a surprise when you discover her dad, Shawn Griffith, is a boat captain, and has been all of his daughter’s young life. He captains Schooner Appledore out of Camden, one of the Appledores designed and built by Capts. Herb and Doris Smith, formerly of Boothbay Harbor. And Shawn Griffith captained the Eastwind, another Smith windjammer, with Doris many years ago.

“She’s been raised on boats. When Georgia was 2 and a 1/2 years old I was captain on the Lazy Jack. I would take her right into the cockpit with me,” her dad said. “As she got older, whenever I could, I’d get the lines in her hands.”

Adds Georgia, “My mom has pictures of me at the wheel. It’s definitely really fun.”

Mom, author Amy Redfern Griffith, and dad were proud and pleased as their daughter received the first place prize check of $250 from Rosemary Bourette on behalf of Friends of Windjammer Days at SCS. Bourette and daughter Jessica Nadeau Miller, the art teacher, at Boothbay Region Elementary School, came up with the contest idea in 2019.

“Artists are asked to consider what their artwork would look like on a T-shirt when coming up with a design,” said Bourette. “They’re encouraged to use color, but not watercolor, and to use white sparingly. Some artwork is eliminated because it’s not colorful enough, or it just wouldn’t reproduce well.

Georgia hasn’t decided how to use the prize money just yet. “I’ll probably save some of it,” she said. “I’m a gymnast and there’s this really cool leotard I’d like to get ...”

Bourette announced five of Griffith’s classmates made the Top 10 list: Kayla Watts, Fiona Bishop, Scout Martin, Jessie Ullo and Mabel Kaler.

These SCS students also entered the contest: Grade three: Johan Fessenden, Shepherd Griffith and Aurora Wallace; grade three: Ryder Baker, Isabel Fanslau and Duncan Scott; grade four: Lucie Hollon; and grade five: Carter Townsend.  Entries were also submitted by homeschooled Zuriel Smith, grade six; Skyler Spofford, Edgecomb Eddy School, grade six; and Meredith Ames, grade seven, BRES.

The Friends of WJD committee chairs judge the contest. All of the winning designs will be on display at the Friends of Windjammer Days tent in Whale Park. The youth T-shirts will be on sale with the commemorative WJD T-shirts at the tent.

The festival is set for June 26 – July 2. For details, visit www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org