The pandemic has meant a lot of things have had to change in 2020, and those changes are going to continue to be part of our lives for at least some portion of 2021.
Sentry, who is the Wisconsin-based title sponsor of the PGA Tour's Sentry Tournament of Champions, is looking to turn the reality of mask wearing into an opportunity to showcase student artwork.
The company's foundation held a student design contest for a double-sided face mask that will be distributed to players, their guests and the limited fans in attendance at Kapalua Resort in January 2021.
Lillian Lepak, a senior from Pacelli High School, was one of two winners with her design showing off her town, Stevens Point, Wis., that met the contest call to showcase an entrant's community from their perspective. Lepak's design features watercolor and line art of local hallmarks like the Schmeeckle Reserve, Green Circle Trail, town square fountain and Stevens Point water tower.
“I wanted to showcase areas of Stevens Point that everyone knows and recognizes, as well as some of my favorite spots in town,” Lepak said. “I’ve always been into art, but I never thought I’d be designing a face mask, let alone win the contest. I can’t wait to see my design on the finished mask.”
The other winner is Kyler Strona, a fourth grader from the island of Maui, bringing together the tournament's home and the company's home. Kyler's design features a red background with a pineapple pattern and rainbow-colored letters reading “Aloha.”
“My inspiration for the mask was the Hawaii license plate, which includes Hawaii’s nickname, ‘The Aloha State,’" Strona said. “Since we see a lot of rainbows in Hawaii, I colored the letters to show that. And I picked red as the background because it’s my favorite color.”
Sentry is making charitable donations to communities in both places, as well the winning students' schools.