BP chamber picks button design winner

Plans for Blooming Prairie’s Fourth of July celebration are getting a jump start with a local fourth-grade student chosen as the winner of the design for the festival’s official button.
Leah Watson of rural Austin received special recognition last Thursday by Emily Glaser, executive director of the Blooming Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce. Watson is in Haley Hasleiet’s fourth-grade class at Blooming Prairie. Hasleiet and principal Jacob Schwarz joined Glaser in honoring Watson for her winning design.
In keeping with an annual Blooming Prairie tradition, all fourth-grade classes entered designs for the button. This year there were 58 students. Glaser chose nine finalists before allowing chamber members to vote on the winning entry.
“This was a very big surprise for me,” said Watson of being honored with the winning design. “I think it’s amazing and awesome that I won,” she added.
Watson designed the school’s blossom mascot with a red, white and blue flag in sunglasses and a vaccine needle, symbolic of the pandemic was used for the last numeral in 2021.
She said it took her about five attempts before she finally came up with the final drawing. Watson credited her mother, Ashley, with inspiring her on the idea.
According to Glaser, Watson’s winning drawing will now appear on 1,200 Fourth of July celebration buttons that will be available for purchase later this month.
This is the first time a student in Hasleiet’s class has won the contest. She made a big deal out of it with her class. “I was very excited for her. She’s very deserving of it,” Hasleiet said. “They know Fourth of July is a big deal around here, and it was neat to see them excited for her.”
Schwarz is appreciative of the partnership with the chamber. “It helps build our relationship with the community,” he said. “It’s part of the tradition, and we hope to continue with it. We want the kids to have pride in their community,” he added.
Blooming Prairie’s Fourth celebration is set for July 3-4.