Fancy a horse of a different color?
Starting Thursday, April 3, The Shops at Atlas Park began a contest for Queens kids to draw up their dream carousel horse on the pages of The Queens Courier. The winning entry will then be created and added to the Glendale mall’s carousel ride.
“This is a great way for us to reach out to kids throughout Queens and get their input. We look forward to seeing what the bright, original families of Queens come up with,” said The Shops’ owner, Damon Hemmerdinger.
All contest entries must be received at Atlas Park’s hospitality desk by Friday, May 9, and one drawing will be selected as the winner and printed in The Queens Courier on Thursday, May 15.
A panel of judges will be examining submissions for originality, creativity and overall theme, said Dave Kerpen, a spokesperson for The Shops.
After a winner is selected, one of the 14 thoroughbreds on Atlas Park’s carousel will be repainted and redesigned to match the selected child’s creation.
“The only place you can really find the contest will be in The Queens Courier,” Kerpen said of the official contest entry, which will be printed until the contest’s conclusion.
Those who wish to enter should design their dream horse on the sketch by Courier cartoonist Bill Kresse belowi. The contest is limited to Queens residents under the age of 18.
Kids are also asked to include a pet name for their Atlas Park pony, which will be stabled in The Shops’ carousel until the attraction closes up on Sunday, June 29.
Whether it is Mr. Ed, Seabiscuit or something completely original, the name included in the winning entry will become the horse’s official name for the rest of the carousel’s run, Kerpen said.
The carousel’s grand opening was held on Saturday, April 5 at noon, and the ride will be open daily from noon until 8 p.m. The cost to ride is $2 on weekdays and $4 on weekends, and for every $25 with a verified receipt spent at Atlas Park retailers, riders get $1 off. This will be the second year that the popular attraction will have come to The Shops. This year the ride is stationed in front of shops Pasticcio and Les Shoes Elys/es.
For more information about the contest or The Shops, located at 8000 Cooper Avenue, visit www.TheShopsAtAtlasPark.com.
