The temperature barely surpassed 20 degrees last Tuesday morning. But the prospect of a few numb fingers and toes didn’t stop a handful of Bristol Borough residents from convening at Mill Street Crossing for the town’s latest milestone – hosting the coveted Bucks County Mobile Logo.
Stretching 32 feet and weighing in at 2,400 pounds, the massive, bright red, steel sculpture from Visit Bucks County travels to a different spot every three months.
The purpose of the logo is to have locals and tourists alike take memorable photos with it and share to social media. VBC president/COO Paul Bencivengo said this helps create a digital buzz about the county and all that it has to offer.
“Those large logos have become really popular with tourism destinations. They have become what we like to say, an ‘Instagram magnet’ where people love taking photos in front of them and then sharing them online,” Bencivengo said. “We hope that will spur maybe a comment or question from one of their friends or followers and encourage people to think about Bucks County and to visit us.”
The logo was created in fall 2018 by the same fabricator of Philadelphia’s moving “XOXO” structure. According to Bencivengo, inspiration was drawn from the city as well as similar logos in Dallas, Texas and Wildwood, New Jersey.
After appearing at Peddler’s Village, the Children’s Museum and Shady Brook Farm over the past year, the Bucks County logo arrived in Bristol Borough last Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Slowly but surely, a large crane lifted each word into the sky, carefully placing them at the head of the blossoming business district.
Present was Raising the Bar president Bill Pezza, who was overjoyed at the honor of hosting the logo.
“We have a really great partnership with Visit Bucks County. They’ve been very good to us, and this 2,400-pound traveling logo has been at some pretty prestigious places,” he said.
In order to draw attention to the sculpture, which will remain in town for approximately three months, Pezza touched on two initiatives.
“We’re going to invite residents to come and take a picture at the place, either as an individual or as couples or family, friends, and then post those pictures on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #MyBristolBorough,” he said. “We’re also sponsoring a photo contest for real photographers. You pay $5 to enter the contest, you take the photo in any creative way you want, and we’re going to put them on display at the Centre for the Arts and have an exhibit on Feb. 8.”
Bencivengo said Mill Street Crossing was the perfect next stop for the logo.
“We’re excited to bring it to Bristol Borough. There’s just so much momentum with that town. We were so happy to bring it down to Bristol Borough, and they all come out. There was a handful of people that actually came out just to see the logo get placed, which is super exciting when you see a town or attraction that embraces any of the initiatives that we do,” he said.
Visit Bucks County is in the process of planning more logo appearances throughout 2020, with Doylestown on the agenda at a TBD date. Bencivengo proudly reflected on the influx of requests by towns and businesses wanting the sculpture brought to them.
“When we first made the announcement, we definitely had a lot of partners reach out to us and say, ‘We would love to host the logo.’ We see it as artwork, too, I think it’s important to say,” he said. “There was no question that we wanted to visit all the major towns in Bucks County. The reception has been awesome.” ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
