Area residents encouraged to dig up those Black Dirt photos

Pine Island — The Pine Island Chamber of Commerce is soliciting photographs of the Black Dirt region, to be made into postcards for their new “Art In Agriculture” series. The best 30 photo submissions will be displayed at the chamber’s stand at the Pine Island Summer Fest, to beheld from Aug. 17-19, when the public will be invited to vote for their favorites. Summer Fest, organized by the Polish Legion of American Veterans and the Fire Department, will include an antique car show, a carnival and music. The three most popular photo choices will be awarded small cash prizes and certificates. The photos that will be used for the new postcards, however, will be selected from the submitted photos by a panel of judges that will include local artists. The photo submissions should be consistent with the theme “Art in Agriculture” — that is, designed to focus on the aesthetic bounty of black dirt country — and should be both suitable and available for reproduction as postcards. Prints should be 5” x 7,” or larger, and clearly labeled on the back with the name, address and all the contact details of the photographer. Photo prints in an envelope marked Photo Contest should be mailed to 1010 County Route 1, Pine Island, N.Y. 10969, or delivered to Green Valley Tack, 792 County Route 1, Pine Island. The tack store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The deadline for submissions is noon on Thursday, Aug. 16. The first two postcards in the Pine Island “Art in Agriculture” series, published last month, were from a collection by photographer Nick Zungoli, of Sugar Loaf. These cards are currently available in Pine Island stores. For further information, call 321-3522 or e-mail pineislandchamber@yahoo.com.