Posted 5:49 PM by Susan Darst Williams

NEBRASKA BOY WINS NATIONAL ART PRIZE

A 7-year-old from Washington County, Neb., is the grand prize winner in a national Christmas greeting card contest put on by UNICEF, Pier 1, and Weekly Reader.

Zane Boswell, son of Holly and Mike Mackie, drew a snowman with ‘’love’’ on his tummy with colorful houses behind. He said he imagined that all the children of the world built a snowman together.

The judges chose it and one other among thousands of entries. Zane and his family got to go to New York City from Nov. 17-22. A highlight was lighting an enormous snowflake at 57th Street and 5th Avenue with actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Washington County Enterprise reported that profits from the sale of the cards go to aid children in developing countries.

Here’s a mom that teachers would love: Zane did the drawing last March as a ‘’rainy day project,’’ when he was bored. His mom spotted the news release about the contest, told him what UNICEF is and what they do for kids around the world, and then went to fix dinner. When she came back, he was done.

Now, that’s efficiency and lack of bureaucracy . . . and look at the result!