Chris Lyle displays his winning design for the Signal Mountain Lions Club's community license plate design contest.
Photo by Emily CrismanChris Lyle is the winner of the Signal Mountain Lions Club license plate design contest, which was announced at the club's annual Labor Day barbecue.
"I grinned for 30 minutes after they called," he said.
Lyle's design features hemlock trees, a theme he said was inspired by the threat recently posed to the community's hemlocks by the non-native woolly adelgid insect.
"I wanted to make people aware," he said of the woolly adelgid, which can spread to other trees in the area if left untreated, threatening the existence of all the community's hemlocks.
"If any tree says mountains, it's the hemlock," said Lyle, a resident of Signal Mountain for 15 years and an employee at Signal Mountain Nursery.
He said he previously worked in the art field, for 17 years as an illustrator for Buster Brown and for five years as a fashion illustrator at Loveman's.
"It will be nice to see my artwork around on the mountain," said Lyle.
The design contest was the brainchild of Lion Bill Leonard, who felt it was time to replace the 30-year-old design featuring dogwood blooms created by Lion Irby Park.
The community was asked to vote at the Lions' annual Fourth of July barbecue on the approximately 15 designs submitted to the committee, and Lyle's design received the majority of the 380 votes cast.
To order the new plate, which will be available soon, contact a member of the Signal Mountain Lions Club.
To find out more or to order a new plate, contact Lion Bill Leonard at 886-2117 or Ken Abel at 667-5108.