150 years ago, the Town of Nederland was officially incorporated, and 50 years ago, for the Town’s centennial celebration, Nederland High School senior Malcolm Farley won a contest for designing the centennial logo.

This year for the sesquicentennial celebration the same contest was held, giving Nederland’s youth an opportunity to have their artwork honored for generations.

Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek, along with the Nederland Area Historical Society (NAHS), helped to organize the contest. They also offered the prize money of $150.

Nederland Middle-Senior High School teacher Judie Sievers managed the contest, challenging the youth to design a logo, or seal, for Nederland’s 150th anniversary, which will be displayed prominently during the festivities, as well as featured on advertisements and merchandise.

The contest guidelines specified that the design should include either the word “sesquicentennial,” the number 150, or Nederland’s date of establishment “1874.” All entries were required to be original work using traditional artistic mediums, which included computer drawing programs, and were requested to be “simple” with all elements able to be identifiable when reproduced at smaller sizes.

After receiving 75 entries for the contest, Cacek led a committee of those involved in the Celebration to select a winner. On Tuesday, June 11, Cacek announced that the artist the artist winning the most votes from the committee was eighth grader Lucy Budde.

“Your artwork stood out for its creativity, elegance, and the way it beautifully captures the spirit of our beloved town,” Cacek wrote in his initial correspondence with the winner of the contest.

Sievers responded to the news with excitement, stating in response that she was proud of Budde as a burgeoning artist, mentioning how Budde was the first place winner of a poster contest by the Lion’s Club when she was in sixth grade.

“She’s a phenomenal artist! Every contest she enters she wins, she’s just so talented,” Sievers told the group present outside the Nederland Town Hall on Monday, June 17.

Budde was invited to the Town Hall to be honored and to meet the contest designers, who delivered her prize.

In 1974, Lee Tillotson was a physical education teacher at Nederland High School, and she remembers her student Farley, whom she described as a “wild child,” and when he won the Centennial Celebration logo contest. Farley was awarded $5.

This year, Budde was awarded $30.51 donated by Tillotson, which was the exact amount of the 1974 prize adjusted for inflation. Cacek and the Nederland Visitor’s Center contributed $100, and NAHS contributed $50, gifting Budde with the very symbolic $150 in prize money.

Budde said she was honored to have her logo chosen for the 150th Anniversary Celebration, and told The Mountain-Ear about her inspiration for the design.

“I really wanted to showcase the mountains and I thought a sunrise shining over the town would be beautiful,” Budde said. When asked what she was thinking of spending her prize money on, she responded that she could always use more art supplies.

Cacek told Budde and those present at the ceremony just how the logo for the sesquicentennial would be used.

“We’re going to be putting this on pretty much everything,” Cacek said. “Banners, signs, on the website and on the walking tour map. I’ve already ordered a bunch of stickers, patches, and commemorative coins as well.”

Nederland’s 150th Anniversary Celebration will consist of activities and events honoring the Town’s past, present, and future, and will take place on the weekend of August 2, 3, and 4, 2024.