'Unimaginable Creativity' Earns Westview Boy Art Honor

Two area students were declared winners in the Love-A-Stray T-shirt design contest and will have their designs featured for the April 29

The contest resulted in a tie with Emma Tomczak of Bay Village and Noah Smith of Avon Lake winning. Noah, diagnosed with a form of cerebral palsy, submitted art work that will be featured on shirts.

Noah, 10, was born two months prematurely and as a result he has spastic cerebral palsy that affects his fine motor skills as well as his physical abilities. His mother Christina Oliva, said that he has been in therapy for most of his life.

“Not knowing if Noah would ever walk or talk, he has been in physical, occupational, and speech therapies since he was 6 months old,” Oliva said. “With his fighting spirit, Noah does walk thanks to orthotic splints, numerous foot castings and heel chord surgery.”

Noah is also creatively gifted.

“Noah also talks and talks and talks,” Oliva said. “He is also on the autism spectrum which enables him to have unimaginable creativity and an endless imagination.”

His entry features a red heart-shaped paw print 

Noah is a student of Rita Rutherford’s special needs class at . His design will be featured on the shirts that will be for sale to the public at the Fur Fun event as well as several future events.

Emma, 18, is a freshman at Kent State University. Her design will be used on the T-shirts given to 5K participants.

Both winners will be recognized on Sunday, April 29 and will receive a shirt with their design and a prize.

Love-A-Stray’s Andrea Scheetz, who is coordinating the event, said the contest concluded Feb. 29 and was in part created to raise awareness for the Fur Fun event scheduled to take place at Avon Lake Towne Center. The event features a Hermes 5K chip-timed race, dog walk with several mileage options, raffle, business fair, pet fair, rescue row to feature several area no-kill rescues, door prizes, food and music.

Love-A-Stray will display all submitted entries at their booth during the Fur Fun Event on April 29. For more information on the event, contact Scheetz at LASDog5K@gmail.com.