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Even those who aren't superstitious might be thinking that the search for a new official seal for Millersville Borough is cursed.
At a meeting last month, officials told residents that the borough had encountered yet another snag in what has become a more than seven-year effort to get a new borough seal. An artist recently contacted the borough with concerns that the new design infringes on her copyright.
"We can't talk too much about this, obviously, but we just wanted to let people know the issue is out there," borough manager Ed Arnold said June 10. "The letter we received was a query into the source of the design. But since then we haven't had any official follow-up, and we're not sure where the issue might be going."
The present borough seal, designed in 1961 as part of the celebrations surrounding the town's 200th birthday, depicts a Christian church, a conservatively dressed Caucasian family, a baseball player, a cheerleader, a basketball player, a tree, the sun, a giant pair of hands, rainstorms, a gradation diploma, a piano, a violin, sheet music, a swimmer and a pool and what appears to be either a xylophone or a dulcimer.
That design, as most people agree, is too "busy." So, in 2001, when the borough government began putting together part of its most recent Comprehensive Plan, Mary Ann Gerber, then council president, asked representatives to begin working on a design for a new seal.
The search led to Millersville University graphic designer Diane Tothero, who put together a new seal featuring a large tree.
That design didn't seem to satisfy the council or the public, however. Last year, as a way of beginning plans for the borough's 250th birthday in 2011, Millersville put out the call for local artists to submit designs for a new official borough seal. Then, even with multiple entries, officials extended the deadline.
By the end of the second deadline, the borough had received 15 entries featuring design elements such as swans, borough buildings, a giant eye and even an image of a Susquehannock native to reflect the borough's place as an 18th-century frontier town. Borough council then whittled the entries down to three.
Residents were allowed to vote on the designs. They eventually chose Tothero's original entry. Titled "A Community of Neighbors," the design also featured images of Millersville University and Penn Manor High School."I'm pleased that my design was chosen, as any designer would be. I just thought I would do my best … to fulfill the borough's needs," Tothero said in October. "Even though I now live in Conestoga, I previously lived in Millersville for 10 years, (so) it's nice for me to give something back to my old community."
Seven months later, the borough announced concerns over copyright infringement.
On June 11, Millersville University director of communications Janet Kacskos said the issue did not involve the university — even though Tothero was a university employee who designed the seal at the request of her employers.
"The borough gave us the specific ideas of what to work off of," Kacskos said. "Yes, it's true, one of our people did design it, but she (Tothero) was just working off what the borough asked."
