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St. Patrick coloring contest winners

Special to the Catholic Herald

Winners of the 2023 St. Patrick coloring contest pose for a photo last month with Niall Leogue of Caddie Tours and Fr. Joseph Farrell, chaplain to GMU and the Hibernians. (COURTESY)

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Fifteen students ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade were honored in Fairfax last month as winners of the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ 2023 St. Patrick Coloring Contest.

Grand prize winner Carter Lyon, a fourth-grade student at St. Patrick School in Fredericksburg, received a $50 cash award. All winners were given a T-shirt, their entry picture framed, a shamrock plant and a St. Patrick holy card.

At the George Mason University Campus Ministry Center, Father Joseph Farrell, chaplain to both the campus center and the state Hibernians, explained to the children the significance of the three-leaf shamrock plant that is associated with St. Patrick’s explanation of the trinity to natives in Ireland.

The Hibernians received 2,000 entries across 35 diocesan elementary schools. The annual event began in 2018 at St. Francis of Assisi School in Triangle.

Over the past two years, 13 schools have produced contest winners, according to Harry Flynn, chair of the contest. He thanked Joseph Vorbach, diocesan school superintendent, for facilitating coordination of the contest between Hibernian divisions and schools throughout the diocese, and Niall Leogue of Caddie Tours in Vienna for a grant to expand the competition.

The winners include:

—Kindergarteners Frances Mantooth, Angelus Academy, Springfield; and George Keats and Caleb K. Eager, St. Joseph School, Herndon.

—First-graders Isabelle Iezzi, Linton Hall, Bristow; Quinlan Hentschel, Holy Cross Academy, Fredericksburg; and Lewis Quick, Basilica of St. Mary School, Alexandria.

—Second-graders Fiona Miller, Our Lady of Hope School, Potomac Falls; Tatum Hammond, Basilica school; and Austin Krebs, Our Lady of Hope School.

—Third-graders Carmen Maria Caballero, St. Timothy School in Chantilly; Adele Hanssen, Our Lady of Hope School; and Kendall Miller, Holy Cross Academy.

—Fourth-graders Carter Lyon, St. Patrick School; Niamh Nigra, Basilica school; and Anne Gallivan, St. James School, Falls Church.

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