Leo Kamer had a selection of cool facts about Israeli innovations to choose from as inspiration for an illustrated entry in the area’s 2014 Israel Poster Contest.
The one the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater fifth grader liked the best, though, had to do with a bicycle. The bike is made from cardboard that can withstand rain and sun, and the Israeli company that invented and manufactures the bike hopes that it will make transportation more accessible to people around the world.
Leo’s illustration, which described the fact and depicted a person riding a bike amid a smattering of raindrops, was the top vote getter in the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual contest.
Voting on the public’s favorite poster took place in March and April, and was held both physically—by those who viewed the work and submitted their votes in the Simon Family JCC’s Cardo, and virtually— by online voters, who chose from a field narrowed down from more than 100 entries to a top 10.
Smiling with delight, Leo found out he had won before the screening of The Prime Ministers: the Pioneers film shown at the community’s celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, on May 6 at the Simon Family JCC.
Shikma Rubin, chair of the CRC’s Israel committee, called the young man to the front of the JCC’s multipurpose room to congratulate him and had him sign his original artwork.
Returning to his seat, Leo turned to his mother, Marcia Samuels, and asked, “Did you know about this?” With a twinkle in her eye and a proud smile, Samuels admitted she did.
Leo’s poster will be professionally framed, and will hang permanently in the Sandler Family Campus. A version of the poster will be distributed at the annual Israel Festival. For more information about the CRC, its many resources and events, visit JewishVA.org/CRC.
by Laine Mednick Rutherford