The City of Dowagiac has chosen six finalists for their designs of a new city flag, to be voted on by the people of the Dowagiac community through May 13th.
“In November of 2021, a sub-committee under the Economic Development Committee, headed by myself, was formed with the goal of developing a plan to create Dowagiac’s new city flag. The other committee members were Eileen Crouse and Paige Behnke. Steve Arseneau, Museum Director at the Dowagiac Area History Museum provided the history of Dowagiac,” says Councilman Pat Bakeman.
The Dowagiac residents who submitted designs and have been chosen as finalists are: Eric Stovern, Alyssa Boese, Beth Hovey, Sean Kanuiga, Breah Hannapel (Middle School Student at Dowagiac), and Jess Villagrana of Niles. The city received twenty-one design submissions, and after approval from Mayor Lyons and the city council, the six finalists were carefully chosen and announced.
“The next step in this process is to get feedback from the Dowagiac Community,” says Eileen Crouse, Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce Membership Coordinator. “We have prepared a short survey where citizens can pick their favorite flag and provide their input about any, or all, of the flags.”
The survey will be available via this link on the City of Dowagiac’s website, where a full description of each flag design can also be found. The artists go into great detail about the colors they have chosen in their design, the shapes and symbols and their representation to the area, and the history of Dowagiac that inspired each creation. The new Dowagiac City flag will be debuted on June 14th — Flag Day 2022.
By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM contributor
