Devitt's "Christmas on the Farm"

Those who grew up in New York's Mid-Hudson Valley region probably remember visiting Eggbert, the talking egg, at least once during their childhood. For decades, Devitt's Nursery in New Windsor has been hosting its annual "Christmas on the Farm" attraction with Eggbert being the star of the show. During the latter years of my tenure with News of the Highlands, Inc., each holiday season we'd trade advertising space for contest prizes with Devitt's.

 

In 2019, I developed a campaign to both help promote the attraction and boost publication sales. It began with an article I wrote about Newburgh Brewing Company's exclusive "Angry Eggbert" IPA, published in the newspaper's first holiday section that November. I designed social media graphics teasing an upcoming feature about Eggbert, while soliciting questions from the public to include in an interview with the mascot. All of this culminated in a double-page spread I designed for the second holiday section in December, which featured my article about the history of the attraction, nostalgic photos provided by readers, and the interview with Eggbert himself. ​And while it could've just been a coincidence, the staff at Devitt's told me that the weekend my feature was published, they had cars lined up from the parking lot out onto the highway just to get into the attraction!

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However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Devitt's did not host the attraction for two years. In the meantime, we continued with a children's coloring contest featuring my original illustration of Eggbert, with entries only available in select issues of the newspaper. And when Eggbert did return in 2022, we welcomed him back with colorful advertisements.