Art students were invited to submit drawings of their concept for the memorial.

Photo below: Elizabeth Weir receiving $500 savings bond from Dan Hayworth, legislative aide to Sen. Nick Rerras as Ed Lewis, Pres. of the Friends of the Virginia Watermans Memorial on the Eastern Shore looks on.

The artist propped herself against the pillows on her bed, a plain sheet of computer printer paper in front of her, a No. 2 pencil in hand,

Also simple was the assignment given the then - Great Bridge High School junior. Simple, yet so difficult: Design a memorial while working Virginia waterways. It was more than just work. An Eastern Shore group of survivors' families and supporters working on a shoestring that didn't allow for professional artist fees, was sponsoring a design contest for the memorial. Each entry would receive serious consideration.

This was for real. Elizabeth and her art classmates last year little about the dangers of working on the water. Arlene T. Martin, their teacher, discussed the issue with them and helped them brainstorm ideas.

"I remember when I went fishing when I was 2, but I don't think that counts," Elizabeth said. Her main memory was of a trippping, spilling her bubble solution and throwing rocks to scare fish. "But, I knew that fishermen do get killed at sea."

Winning wasn't on her mind, but doing a good job was. She's loved art all her life, particularily drawing and painting. "I like to draw realistic stuff, a lot of fantasy stuff - mystical creatures, like elves. I draw foxes" and Japanese-style animation "for fun."

After thinking the assignment over for a day or two, Elizabeth decided on a realist approach. She worked quickly - three summers of animation courses taught her to draw fast: a stick-figure skelton, covered by a body, and then by clothes. Within a half hour she was done: a sad, wide-eyes young boy in overalls and boots holding a baited fishing rod, standing next to empty, adult-sized boots.

She chose a child for greater emotional impact. She had thought about her father traveling on business. "I know what it's like to miss someone, but he comes back. And the person that he boy is missing, he's not coming back."

Elizabeth's quickly drawn homewoek assignment wasted little time making waves across the Chesapeake Bay. "If you look at it, that's the story: It's who these men left behind," said Rita M. Hutton of Oyster. Hutton helped found the memorial. Her son died in 1992 when his clam boat sank.

A memorial committee knocked 200 entries down to six, including Elizabeth's. They were all beautiful, believe me," Hutton said. "It was hard."

Martin, the teacher, called Elizabeth one morning in August. Her design had won. Elizabeth literally pinched herself in the arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "The assignment became an important one, one they could apply the emotional aspect and the historical aspect." Martin said. "She definitely touched the hearts of these people."

Now 17 and a senior, Elizabeth continues to study art in Martin's class and continues to draw when she's not playing video games or hanging out with friends as the mall or movies. She plans to major in art in college next year, with hopes of going to California for graduate school and a career in animation.

She also has a standing offer to sketch the contruction of the memorial, which supporters hope to see completed in two years in Oyster.

Elizabeth's design won her a $500 savings bond, which she expects will come in handy for graduate school. Oh, yeah. The assignment, Martin said, also earned her an A.