Contest begins to name World’s Largest Buffalo
He’s been overlooking Jamestown for nearly 50 years, he greets visitors and tourists, and until now there has been no formal effort to give the World’s Largest Buffalo a name. That changed Monday morning with the announcement of the Name That Buffalo Contest, where people can submit names through April 15.By: Ben Rodgers, The Jamestown Sun
- Image
He’s been overlooking Jamestown for nearly 50 years, he greets visitors and tourists, and until now there has been no formal effort to give the World’s Largest Buffalo a name.
That changed Monday morning with the announcement of the Name That Buffalo Contest, where people can submit names through April 15.
“I think the timing is perfect to offer something fun and exciting. Spring is coming and it’s been another long, hard winter,” said Nina Sneider, executive director of Buffalo City Tourism Foundation. “It’s been a tough year for everybody so we thought let’s kick it off now.”
Entries can be made four ways: enter online at www.namethatbuffalo.com, e-mail it to namethatbuffalo@tourjamestown.com, mail it to Name That Buffalo, PO BOX 917, Jamestown, N.D., 58402, or fill out a form at a sponsor’s location.
A committee will review the submitted names, select its top five, and people can then make a donation for the name they like the most, said Jordan Kvale, a Jamestown College student who helped arrange the contest. All money raised will be used for landscaping around the buffalo, he said.
No plans for who will serve on the committee have been finalized, Sneider said.
There will also be a cash prize for the person who proposes the selected name.
People can submit as many names as they would like and Sneider encourages classes at area schools to compete for a chance at the cash prize.
“A $1,000 cash prize and you can be part of Jamestown history,” Kvale said.
Along with Kvale, Ben Kaspari and Joy Wangwatthaka from Jamestown College helped coordinate the contest plans.
This was a project for their Community Alliance for Management Consulting class and each student played a different role in organizing the event, Kaspari said.
“The college kids have been exceptional,” Sneider said. “They’re enthusiastic and they’re willing to work in any area we ask them to.”
Some of their work included creating the Web site and e-mail account as well as acquiring sponsors, they said.
The World’s Largest Buffalo was built in the late 1950s as something that would draw motorists off the then-brand-new interstate, said Harold Newman, former Chamber of Commerce president who was a large part in the construction of the buffalo here.
Elmer Peterson, a former Jamestown College art professor, finished the buffalo in October 1959 for a cost of around $10,000, Newman said.
The buffalo has 60 tons of cement for a base. It was dedicated in 1960, with then Gov. John Davis and presidential candidate and New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller present at the occasion, Newman said.
The name ideas are endless but Name That Buffalo Committee Chairman Alden Kollman said names like Jimmie or James would be unlikely chances because there will probably be a lot of them.
Sneider is without a vote because of her affiliation but she said three names wouldn’t win: Fluffy, Buffy or Chips.
The winner will be announced at a dedication ceremony in June.
Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by e-mail at brodgers@jamestownsun.com
Tags: in the area, local news, worlds largest, community, news, jamestown, buffalo, name, naming, contest
More from around the web
RSS Feeds