This fall, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres will feature on one of her shows a wacky chair designed by a Boys & Girls Club from either Delaware or Maryland.
The idea for a wacky chair competition started last year, when a producer from the Ellen DeGeneres Show contacted Delaware State Fair marketing director Danny Aguilar about using a wacky chair from the contest held at the fair on the show. The chairs weren’t great for sitting, so they decided to use one from this year’s fair.
The contest, themed “Be Great” to encourage the boys and girls to reach their full potential and be creative as they can, is open to 10 clubs in Delaware, including three in Sussex, and two from Maryland. The children have until June 19 to submit their designs for the Adirondack chairs. The chairs will then be created by local artists for each club. Chairs will be delivered to the fair on July 10 and will be on display during the fair, from July 23 to Aug. 1. Starting Aug. 3, Delawareans can view them at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover.
From July 11 to Aug. 28, Delawareans can go online to WMDT’s Web site and vote on their favorite chair. The first vote is free; additional votes can be made for a donation of $1 that will go toward the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware. The winning chair will be announced Aug. 31 and will appear on the Ellen show this fall. Prizes of two tickets to the Ellen show, airfare and a hotel stay for two will be given away to the winning artist, that club’s director and a representative from the corporate office of the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware, as well as one random online voter. The winning club will also receive a plaque and banner to hang in their club.
After appearing on the show, the winning chair will be auctioned off on eBay. The remaining 11 chairs will be auctioned off online or at a live auction at a Boys & Girls Club function. One hundred percent of donations will go toward the nonprofit programs, with 50 percent going to the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware, 30 percent to the Biggs Museum and 20 percent to the Boys & Girls Club of Maryland.
