Fort Ligonier bestows awards on miniature model makers

The young creators of three miniature forts came home from Fort Ligonier with prizes this month.

Through the Model Fort Contest at Fort Ligonier, area students worked to build miniature models of forts to be graded and judged by museum officials and guests. The models were limited to 2 feet by 2 feet.

Student groups received a rubric and packet of historical information ahead of time, and had been working on their forts since the end of January. Fort Ligonier is a reconstructed 18th-century fort, where British troops held off an attack by French and Native American foes in a 1758 battle.

The museum distributed prizes for the highest-graded fort in each age group — 9-11, 12-14, and 15-17 — as well as a special “People’s Choice Award” for the fort that received the most votes from museum visitors.

Levi and Zachariah Blakelock’s “Fort Westmoreland” won the People’s Choice Award as well as first prize for the 12-14 age group. Cole and Cameron Marcinek-Guay and Elliott Lee’s “Fort Ohio” won for the 9-11 group, and Anthony Startare, Marcus Cooper and Caleb Wells Koury took home the prize for the 15-17 age group with “Fort Braddock.”