PHOTO BY WENDY WITT — Adolph Bear, fifth from right, was honored for creating the South Tama County Trojan Head logo during last Friday night’s home basketball games. Bear was a sophomore at STC High School in 1968 when he came up with the logo as part of an art class assignment.

You may not know Adolph Bear, but I’m sure you know his work. If you’ve lived in Tama-Toledo for five minutes or have just driven through town, you know the work of Adolph Bear. It’s been put on signs in yards, spray painted in driveways, worn on ball caps and sweaters and seen on those huge changing signs on the highway — the Trojan Head.

It is the symbol of the school — South Tama’s emblem that the members of the community wear with pride and joy — and Adolph Bear is the man to thank for it.

The year was 1968, and Adolph was a sophomore at South Tama. In art class, his teacher, the late Sylvia Potter, gave out an assignment. The project was to create a drawing of an object using letters to compose the drawing.

Young Mr. Bear went home that night and got to work. He said it only took around 30 minutes to complete. The next day, he brought his art into class, and everyone went crazy for it, especially his teacher Ms. Potter, who took his drawing to the administration office to show it off to the principals. They loved Adolph’s design as well, and it wasn’t too long after that it was decided to make the design the school’s emblem.

That was 55 years ago. Adolph’s design has seen a change or two in those decades, but all in all, it remains the same. As new kids filed in and out of the school, the Trojan head emblazoned on their shirts, Adolph’s name had kind of been forgotten, but it won’t be anymore. A plaque was made sharing the history of the Trojan Head and how one artistic student made an everlasting impact on his school with an art assignment.

The plaque was presented to Adolph last Friday evening between basketball games at the high school gym. In his 70s now, Adolph finally got the recognition he deserves in front of a large crowd of STC sports fans. Adolph Bear will now forever be remembered as an artist who changed South Tama County history and cemented a legacy with one emblem.