by John Dowd
Last year, the Stevensville Civic Club held their first ever Creamery Picnic logo contest. The winner’s logo was featured as an official face of the picnic. Also last year, the contest was just for the Stevensville schools, but this year the competition was opened up to every student in the 59870 zip code area. The winner was Carter Brushia, and according to Carter’s mom, Ashley Brushia, Carter is over the moon.
“This year, we opened it up to more kids,” said Sean Doyle, Stevensville Civic Club president, because it went so well last year, which was kind of a trial run. They also considered that a lot of people that visit the picnic are not strictly from Stevensville or live there.
To vote on the winner, at the Stevensville Civic Club board meeting on May 12, envelopes were laid out. Each one contained an entry to the contest, and each had been sealed until that date. The art was showcased at random, and each member was given two tokens to vote with. The winner was the one given the most votes.
Carter Brushia with his winning entry from the Stevensville Creamery Picnic Logo Contest, along with his dog Bubba. Photo courtesy of Ashley Brushia.
According to Doyle, “There were quite a few good ones” this year. However, Doyle believes Carter’s came out on top for a few reasons, the first of which was a great use of color. Doyle also explained how the board thought Carter’s art, “brought in the element of what was Creamery Picnic,” with his inclusion of the ice cream. Doyle added that the addition of the mountains near Stevensville really brought it all together. Really, Doyle said, it was a great showcase of “where Creamery Picnic comes from.”
Carter spoke about his entry, saying he always loved eating ice cream at the Creamery Picnic, and it’s one of his fondest memories. He also loves the beautiful mountains, saying, “whenever I think of Stevensville, I think of the Bitterroots.”
Carter, in the 6th grade at the time of the contest, said he takes art classes in Lone Rock Middle School. “I have no chance of winning,” he said he thought when he started work on his entry. “I am really honored to be part of the Creamery Picnic tradition,” said Carter.
The criteria the contestants were given was that each piece had to include some Montana scenery, elements of the picnic, and had to use the words “Creamery Picinic.” Also, he wasn’t told this at the time, but each one needed to use only four colors, which he did intuitively.
Carter said, “I have always loved going to the Creamery Picnic,” and said it is often the highlight of his summer. When asked about his favorite flavor of ice cream, Carter said chocolate without hesitation.
In fact, the contest seemed a natural thing for Carter to be a part of. He was actually drawing when he found out he won, and said he has always loved drawing and art. He is thinking about becoming either a graphic designer or an animator. He even has some of his works for sale in the Eclectic Emporium in Stevensville. His work is mainly of old classic cartoon characters but he dabbles in anime as well.
Carter will be recognized on Saturday of the Creamery Picnic at 7 p.m. and will be given several of the annual special cups they make, with his logo printed on them. These special memorial cups were sponsored by Advanced Imaging, so their logo will appear on them as well. Last year, the Civic Club printed 500 cups, all of which sold so fast that this year they plan to print 600. These cups will be available at the beer garden for purchase. All the proceeds go to the Stevensville Civic Club for other events.