PITTSFIELD — Jamie Wone talked to her parents and researched online, seeking inspiration as to what makes a “hometown hero.”

She came up with a list of local professionals: teachers, military service members, doctors, priests, police officers and firefighters.

The 13-year-old, an eighth-grader at Warsaw Middle School, had that list in mind when she went to work designing a tie-dyed T-shirt for the theme of the 2011 Central Maine Egg Festival in Pittsfield.

She was among about 20 students in grades five through eight who entered the T-shirt design contest for the 39th annual festival, which runs Tuesday through Saturday.

Wone designed the winning shirt; it features a Superman-like outline with “HH” in the center, surrounded by eggs and drawings of hometown heroes. The shirt will be on display at the festival and can be bought for $18 at the municipal building.

“Hometown heroes are the people from your community who help others,” Wone said. “I think it’s a good thing (that the festival is recognizing hometown heroes) because the festival is something we do in our community and they’re a big part of the community.”

The festival, which started in 1973 to promote the egg industry in central Maine, returns this year with all of its traditional staples: Egglympics games for children, the Kiwanis Kiddie Parade and Kiwanis Karnival at Manson Park, The Famous Big Parade, and a fireworks display.

There will also be a few new additions this year, according to Debra Billings, president of the festival’s organizing committee.

Organizers have added a children’s entertainment area to Manson Park for activities on Saturday, from 12:15 to 4 p.m., featuring also a Vickery School chorus, children’s songs and a magic show.

The Kiwanis Karnival, which runs Thursday through Saturday at Manson Park, has a new ride vendor this year “bringing lots of new rides that are bigger and better,” Billings said.

Also new is a special deal for soldiers, who may ride for free on Friday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. “It’s for active military and their dependents,” Billings said. “They can get free-ride bracelets. All they have to do is show an active military ID and active dependent’s ID. It was something we folded into our fundraising.”

In addition, someone has donated a large sound system to the festival so there can be “continuous” live entertainment from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. Bands will have hardly any down-time in between acts because the sound system will be all set up and they only need to bring are their own instruments.

Jamie Wone’s mother, Melissa, also said their church, the Pittsfield First Baptist Church, will be running a live manger along the Sebasticook River at Manson Park, featuring living animals. Donations toward a raffle will benefit the Pittsfield Food Pantry, she said.

Scott Monroe — 861-9239

smonroe@centralmaine.com

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