Community Corner
Plum Beach Lighthouse License Plate Named Second Best Plate In America
Rhode Island's local Plum Beach Lighthouse license plate has been named the second best plate in a 2011 competition.
The Plum Beach Lighthouse license plate has just been named the second best plate in America. Plum Beach finished behind New Mexico's centennial celebration plate in the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association "Best Plate in America" competition.
"We're ecstatic," said David Zapatka, president of the Friends of Plum Beach Lighthouse. "The whole thing is a complete surprise."
Out of the dozen license plates nominated this year – and the countless others considered – Plum Beach's plate came in as the first runner-up and slightly edged out Maryland's general issue plate.
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According to Gus Oliver, director of the ALPCA's best plate competition, the competition's organizers were impressed by the Plum Beach plate as specialty plates typically don't fare well in the competition.
"The simplicity of the design and the attractiveness of the plate made it stand out," said Oliver. "Many specialty plates are getting overdesigned. A good example of that is the Arizona wildlife plate, which has animals all over it. The numbers were kind of interfering with the design and the whole point of the plate is it has to be legible."
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Oliver adds that plates are judged on two qualities – attractiveness and legibility. He says that the Plum Beach plate "did an excellent job for staying on that primary focus while still making an attractive plate."
"I think it's an indication of how nice the plate is," said Zapatka. "This sort of validates our feelings that this plate really does look nice."
The plate was designed by a committee of the Friends of Plum Beach Lighthouse, based on a fine ink drawing by Bruce Martin, coloring by Rhode Island School of Design student Cory Zapatka and professionally completed by East Greenwich graphic designer Dana Gee. The proceeds from the plates aid in the ongoing maintenance of the historic lighthouse, located beneath the Jamestown Bridge. The lighthouse, built in 1899, had been abandoned for 62 years until the group renovated it in 2003.
"[The Plum Beach license plate] gives people an opportunity to do more than just put a bumper sticker on their car," said Oliver. "Bumper stickers look tacky, but a nice license plate is a good focal point to make a statement with."
The plates were introduced last year and, to date, there are more than 4,000 Plum Beach Lighthouse license plates on Rhode Island's roads. With the recent second-place finish in the best plate competition, that number is expected to grow even more. Since announcing the nomination two weeks ago, the Friends have seen a steep increase in requests for the plate.
"We usually get eight to 10 applications each day but now we're up to 20 or 25 a day," said Zapatka. "We've had 18 already alone today and were up to 28 on one day last week."
Each plate is sold for a one-time fee of $41.50, with $20 going straight to the Plum Beach Lighthouse.
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