This summer, poison ivy along a path to Mill Creek worried Olivia Marshall, 11, of Lawrence.

But she managed to avoid the itchy weed and decided she shouldn’t be concerned because she was with her grandfather, Harvey Smith, of Topeka.

“I knew we would have fun,” Olivia said. “We went to a hidden fishing spot and there were all these catfish in the water and shiny shells around. I think going there with my grandparents is one of my favorite things.”

The memory of the fishing trip was one of the things that prompted Olivia to write an essay about what her grandparents – Loretta and Harvey Smith – mean to her. The essay earned her the title of Douglas County winner in the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging Inc. Grandparents Day Essay contest and a $25 gift certificate.

The contest, for school-age children in Douglas, Jefferson and Shawnee counties, was intended as a way to honor the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. The agency on aging received more than 160 entries for the three-county area, said Annette Thornburgh, spokeswoman for the agency .

Olivia Marshall, 11, of Lawrence, holds a photo of her grandparents, Harvey and Loretta Smith, of Topeka. Marshall is the Douglas County winner of the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging Inc. Grandparents Day Essay Contest.

In her essay, Olivia wrote that her grandparents have given her “the best things ever.”

“Those very important things are love and memories,” she wrote.

Loretta Smith said she wasn’t surprised her granddaughter wrote the essay.

“She’s our only granddaughter,” she said. “We may be a bit prejudiced because of that. But she is a very bright and outgoing and caring girl. She’s growing up so fast. We just feel lucky to have her be a big role in our lives.”

Rhonda Marshall, Olivia’s mother, said her daughter was fortunate to have active and loving grandparents nearby.