Harley Cabrera, 9, of Jersey City recently egged the competition in a Perdue Farms art contest to create a new chicken nugget for the powerful poultry producer. Though the youngster did not win the Grand Prize, Harley was selected as a finalist from hundreds of entries submitted from around the country. Harley’s design, entitled “Peace of Chicken” won her a special trip to New York, where she was honored along with five other finalists at the Puck Building in SoHo at an art exhibition. Harley’s excellent adventure had her staying at the Doubletree Hotel, visiting the Empire State Building and stopping in to the Museum of Natural History. Last week, Harley described the experience as “very great.” “I love chicken nuggets,” Harley said. Harley said that she found out about the contest from her mother, Sharon Walsh, who saw it advertised in a magazine. Her design of a chicken nugget in the shape of a peace symbol came to her after thinking about the contest for several days. “I thought it would be cool for the year 2000,” Harley said last week. “I think there should be peace on earth. And I think we should save the animals.” To enter the “Masterpieces in Chicken” contest, children were asked to draw a picture of a chicken nugget as they would like it to appear in future packages. The judging was done by an independent and impartial judging organization. “In other words,” explained Jim Perdue in a recent press release, “we asked these young poultry Picassos to design a chicken nugget that would be a fun shape to eat. We were surprised by the high level of creativity and originality of the designs, which ranged from the use of letters of the alphabet to more abstract shapes.” The Grand Prize of a trip to Paris was awarded to six-year old Mauro Sanchirico Jr. of Marlton, N.J. His winning drawing, “The Golden Nugget Train,” will be turned into a real chicken nugget in the form of a train, and will be sold in Perdue packages around the country. Special certificates of merit were presented to Harley and five other entrants. New Jersey dominated the finalists, with five of the six hailing from the Garden State. The sixth, selected from a pool of entries from around the nation, calls Virginia home. Harley said that the best part of the whole experience was meeting the other finalists. “I met a lot of friends there,” said Harley, who is a student at the Learning Community Charter School. “We had fun.” Part of the trip took the finalists to Mars 2112, a futuristic, space-theme restaurant in Times Square. Harley said that part was the most fun. She noted that the staff members were dressed like Martians. “I’m happy that I won,” she said. Harley, for obvious reasons, lists art as her favorite subject in school. She credits Hoboken-based artist Patricia Banks, who is a family friend, as her prime influence when it comes to art. Though watercolors are Harley’s best and “very favorite” medium, her entry into the contest was drawn in colored pencil. Though Perdue did not supply Harley and her mother with any free supplies of nuggets, she said that a huge basket of Perdue kitchen accessories was waiting for them when they got to their hotel room. Perdue Farms, founded in 1920, is the largest integrated poultry producer in the Northeast. Perdue is headquartered in Salisbury, Md. and exports its product to more than 50 countries around the world.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
