SKOWHEGAN – The Margaret Chase Smith Library has announced the winners of its 11th annual essay contest. First prize of $500 went to Samuel Inman, a recent graduate of St. Dominic Regional High School in Auburn. He is attending St. Anselm College, majoring in political science with an eye toward studying law.

In addition, one of five honorable mention awards of $25 were presented to Chelsea St. Onge-May of St. Dom’s.

The theme of the essay contest was energy. Inman advocates a strategy with the ambition of the New Deal. “The time has come when the nation needs a ‘green deal,’ a system of efficient programs which can dispense loans and grants to dedicated innovators.” His essay will appear in a forthcoming issue of the “Maine Policy Review,” published by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine in Orono.

For more information about the 2008 Margaret Chase Smith Essay Contest, contact David Richards at 474-7133.