MHAN announces logo contest winners

The Multicultural and Heritage Association of Norfolk announced its logo contest winners on March 31. From left are Olha Diletchuk and Jon Kloepfer, MHAN members, first place winner Tyson Bond, second place winner Paige Wilson, runner-up Peighton Brady, and MHAN’s Judy Schaeffer. Absent for the photo: third-place Lane Veitch and runner-up Sloan Grozelle. 

Chris Abbott

Editor

    They wanted a new logo and they wanted the talented youth of Norfolk County to design it.

   Reaching out to high school and   elementary students, MHAN came up with a logo contest in November-December 2025. Winners were announced March 31st at MHAN’s first meeting of 2026 at the Delhi Polish Hall.

   “The logo design contest began as a way to refresh the club’s branding to help us better reach out and be recognized by the community,” said Olha Diletchuk, MHAN secretary, who was credited with the idea of updating their logo.

    Tyson Bond’s design, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity Catholic High School, was the first-place winner.

    “It’s a maple leaf with all the flags in it,” said Bond, an art student at HT with experience painting oils and acrylics. “It’s a mix… a collage of different flags.”

    After sketching his idea, Bond used Canva graphic design software to create his digital design.

“What inspired me was the cultures of different countries coming together into Canada. So I mixed the ideas of Canada – the leaf – and the flags which are in the exterior of the leaf.”

   Bond learned he was the grand prize winner during a slide show of winners.

   “They (MHAN) did say there was an event today, which got me hyped because I knew something was going to happen. I’d show up and talk to everyone… or maybe even win, so that was exciting. It’s an honour. It makes me happy to see my talent will be used for things other than actual artwork.

   “I liked the wide variety of everybody’s submissions – a lot of them stood out. The one that came second was one of my favourites – in my opinion, it just grabs the attention. It’s sleek. A good logo has to be simple, but it has a message.”

Bond will be graduating from HT this year and plans to attend Mohawk College in the fall.

“I’m going to keep graphic arts and arts in general as a hobby, definitely.”

   Second-place winner Paige Wilson, a Grade 8 student at Lynndale Heights in Simcoe, was the only elementary student in the Top 5.

“I didn’t really want a picture,” said Wilson, explaining her design inspiration. “So I started off by using a big piece of text… because the main message is MHAN. But I had to make it clear what it actually meant, so I wrote the name underneath it. I had to make that small, it wouldn’t fit across.”

   First inspired by an art teacher she had from Grade 2 to Grade 6, Wilson said she would like to take art in high school (although those plans will have to wait until Grade 10).

She was pleased and proud of her Canva digital design results.

“Usually whenever I do something like that, I think ‘Oh, I could have fixed this…’ I didn’t have any of those thoughts.”

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   Winning logos will be used on MHAN letterhead, clothing, banners, online content and more.

“It is an important component of the association, as increased public awareness will allow us to better serve the community,” said Diletchuk.

   “We would like to especially thank all the students, teachers and faculty who helped us spread the word and submit their designs. It was great to be able to partner with the youth of Norfolk and see the creativity you are capable of.”

   MHAN wanted the contest to be fun, and at the same time they wanted Norfolk youth to think about cultures and heritage in the county, and its importance in their own lives.

“It suggests a new life for us. We want new members to be involved in our club, and we wanted the youth to be involved. Multicultural & Heritage has been here… I don’t even know, decades, and we need something fresh.”

   MHAN thanked SCS teacher for Jeremy Lewis for his enthusiastic support of the logo contest.

MHAN LOGO WINNERS

FIRST: Tyson Bond, Holy Trinity Catholic High School

SECOND: Paige Wilson, Lynndale Heights Public School

THIRD: Lane Veitch, Simcoe Composite School

Honorable Mentions: Peighton Brady, SCS, and Sloan Grozelle, SCS

JINGLE DANCING & INDIGENOUS CULTURE

   The Multicultural and Heritage Association of Norfolk is welcoming Professor Robyn Michaud to the Delhi Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre (200 Talbot Road, Delhi) on Saturday, April 25, 1-3 p.m.

Michaud will talk about the rich heritage of Indigenous people in Canada, diversity within Indigenous culture, and the power of dance as an expression of heritage and identity.

The event is open to the community, $10 admission.

   “She (Michaud) is amazing… she is wonderful,” said Judy Schaeffer, noting Michaud is a teacher at UWO and Conestoga College. “It is well worth the $10 admission – if you can come, please do.”

MULTICULTURAL FOOD FESTIVAL

   Save the date – June 6 is the Mulitcultural & Heritage Association of Norfolk’s second annual Food Festival at the museum in Delhi.

About 700 people attended last year’s festival and they hope it will be even bigger this year.

   “There is music throughout the whole day,” said Schaeffer. “I think we have about 12 different food vendors. Please check our Facebook page and also the museum – we work so well together.”