Gig Harbor girl drew on her imagination. Now there’s a Sasquatch on our library cards

Eliana’s Parks’ imagination comes to life with a piece of paper and a pencil.

Now a vivid product of that imagination — a Sasquatch striding through a moonlit forest while perusing a book — will be on thousands of Pierce County library cards.

The 15-year-old Gig Harbor home-schooled student was one of two winners for this year’s Pierce County Library System card design contest, chosen from among 300 submissions from throughout the county.

This contest is held every two years, featuring two age groups: Ages five to 11 and 12 to 18.

Any Pierce County student can submit a drawing, and the numbers are whittled down until only two drawing remain.

“Almost every year since Kindergarten I drew a picture for the contest,” Eliana said. “My skills got better and better, and I finally won, which made me so happy.

“I’ve been drawing ever since I remember getting crayons, and not actually eating the crayons,” Eliana added, laughing.

Eliana has drawn everything from a fish reading a book underneath the Narrows Bridge, to a girl reading with her imagination floating above. The submission that finally won the contest was a drawing of a Sasquatch holding a book in the forest.

“I had to think about it for a couple of weeks because I wanted it to be a good drawing,” Eliana said. “It came up on me while we were driving, because a couple of cars had Sasquatches on their bumper stickers, and my brother had a tournament and the theme was Sasquatch. The Pacific Northwest loves them.”

Professional judges narrowed the 300 submissions down to six drawings per category. Then, after over 8,000 votes cast by the public, Parks was selected as the older group’s winner, and Logan Wilcox of Puyallup’s Brouilett Elementary School was selected as the younger group’s winner.

Logan’s design shows a possum hanging from a tree limb, reading a book upside down.

When Eliana first learned she was a finalist, she was “super shocked, but I didn’t want to let my hopes get up,” she said. “The other drawings looked really cool.”

Eliana soon found out that not only was she a finalist, she was the winner.

“Honestly I didn’t know what to say. I was super excited. People actually liked what I drew,” Eliana said. “It’s pretty exciting to know other people are actually going to enjoy what I draw, instead of my drawings sitting at home getting dusty and forgotten about.”

Mary Getchell, the marketing and communications director for Pierce County’s library, said she was extremely impressed by this year’s submissions.

“The winner’s drawings will be made into 10,000 cards that will go into the hands of people,” said Getchell. “Last year we issued 37,000, and generally the card the students create are really popular.”

Getchell, who founded the contest, said this is an opportunity for students to become more involved with the library system.

“The students have so much opportunity through the library,” Getchell said. “We know they get the learning from school, but we have much we can offer from a learning standpoint. We have so much access for online homework help.”

Getchell praised every child who submitted a drawing, saying that even entering the contest shows fortitude and aptitude.

“At such a young age they put themselves out in a competitive manner to be selected,” Getchell said.

Eliana thanked her Mom, who has encouraged her to draw all of her life.

“I wouldn’t be able to draw like this if my Mom didn’t encourage me,” Parks said. “My whole family encourages me.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the student-drawn cards will not be available until the libraries open up once again. Library patrons can choose either of the two winning designs.

Eliana said that her mother will be exchanging the family’s current library card for a new one when it becomes available. She’s pretty sure it will have a Sasquatch on the font.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 12:00 AM.