Needham Kids Win Chair Design Contest

This spring and summer, Needham's downtown merchants connected with amateur and professional artists from around town to create beautiful, unique pieces of public art, part of the "A Chair To Remember" project.

Now, some of the community's youngest members are getting recognized for their efforts with the project.

The Needham Park and Recreation Department and Council of Economic Advisors recently announced the winners of their collaborative "Design Your Own Adirondack Chair" contest, which gave local youth an opportunity to add their vision to the mix.

Winning the contest's grand prize was seven-year-old Grace Culver, whose chair design featured a globe and stars. In addition, there were five age group winners: Reis Domini (ages 3-4), Jack Dudley (ages 5-6), Mason Fuller (ages 7-8), Evelyn Vu (ages 9-10) and Lily Pendergast (ages 11-12).

These young artists will see their winning displays exhibited at the upcoming Adirondack chair auction on Saturday, Sept. 29. The winners also received a "Needham Loves Aly" T-shirt autographed by Olympic medalist Aly Raisman (donated by the Council of Economic Advisors).

All of the completed chairs will be on display in the James Hugh Powers Hall at Town Hall, route: {:controller=>"listings", :action=>"show", :id=>"needham-town-hall"} --> starting on Tuesday, Sept. 25 and will be up for auction at the event. The silent auction will begin at 6 p.m. followed by a live auction at 7:30 p.m. The event will include free refreshments and music. Susan Wornick, WCVB TV news anchor, will be the celebrity auctioneer. Tickets cost $10 per person and can be purchased at , , , , and