Captain Mercaptan comes to life

MLGW’s Poster Art Contest winners for the 2021 “Captain Mercaptan” superhero theme were announced at the September 7 Board of Commissioners meeting.

The “Captain Mercaptan” Superhero’s core mission is to inform about the addition of Mercaptan to natural gas in order to easily recognize its presence and to promote safety by avoiding the hazards of natural gas.

Entries were judged on their ability to communicate the theme “Smell Gas? Leave Fast!” clearly and creatively. To be considered, they each needed to include an original image of the “Captain Mercaptan” character, a natural gas safety message and the MLGW logo

A non-MLGW panel of Judges was responsible for naming the winners: Tom Clifton, gallery owner; Greg Cravens, cartoonist; and Wiley Henry, artist.

See the winning entries below.

K-2 Grade: Rudved Deshmukh, Second Grade, Bailey Station Elementary

3-5 Grade: Sreshath Darapanent, Fifth Grade, Grahamwood Elementary

6-8 Grade: Akshay Tammineni, Eighth Grade, West Collierville Middle School

9-12 Grade: Olivia Miller, Twelfth Grade, Collierville High School

Both students and their art teachers received a glass award, a certificate and a $125 gift certificate to Michael’s.

For 2022, students will be asked to focus on disaster preparedness and create the superhero “Crisis Crusher.”

Superhero Crisis Crusher’s purpose in life is to teach us all about emergency preparedness and the best ways to proceed before, during and after severe weather situations.