SUBLETTE COUNTY — Maegan Daniels’ essay on how America’s natural beauty inspires her as an artist earned her first place in the local Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest, hosted by Sublette County’s local Fremont Peak Post 4801 Auxiliary and open to all middle school students. Daniels qualified for the statewide Wyoming VFW competition where she represented Sublette County and won third place overall. For her efforts, she received a check for $399 from the Wyoming VFW plus a local award of $150. 

The 2024-25 contest is now underway and open to all Big Piney, Pinedale, Boulder, Bondurant, Cora and Sublette County middle school students in sixth through eighth grades. This year’s theme questions, “My Voice in America’s Democracy?”

Nearly 68,800 students in sixth through eighth grades enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen essay contest for a chance to win their share of $1 million in state and national awards. Each first-place state winner receives a minimum of $500 and the national first-place winner takes home $5,000. 

The essay contest encourages youth to examine America’s history and their own experiences in modern American society by drafting a 300-to-400-word essay expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief.
Before submitting, visit https://tinyurl.com/vfwform for more information. All applications must be turned in to Windy Noble at windy.Noble@SubletteInsurance.com by midnight on Oct. 31.