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The Thorsby FFA’s 2017 t-shirt design has been voted as the best among FFA chapters following a nationwide contest.

This was the first year that the student organization sent a t-shirt to be in the competition.

“We were going to do it last year, but it just didn’t work out,” Carson Littleton said. “This year was going to be the year to do it. We had an extra one lying around and figured what could it hurt.”

The result was surprising even to those behind the design and within the program, as the shirt continued to slowly gain momentum throughout the selection process.

First it went through a panel of judges, who narrowed it down to 12 shirts scattered throughout 50 states.

From there, the top 12 were posted on the National FFA website to be voted on by the public. The top six vote getters were eligible to receive 50 percent of the first year’s profit from the t-shirt sales.

Voting lasted four days and closed on March 16 with Thorsby in the lead with 41,392 votes, nearly 10,000 more than second place Magna Vista FFA in Virginia. California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Missouri were other states represented.

“We were ahead for about the entire contest,” Kristin Morrison said. “We immediately began spreading the word to all of our friends.”

According to Brianna Green, several local businesses helped in passing along the message to vote by posting it on their company Facebook pages.

“It seemed like social media was the way to go,” Green said.

The comfortable lead that Thorsby had built up early on came in handy as Magna Vista FFA made a late push on the final day of voting with 15,000 votes in a six-hour span.

However, it was still not enough surpass the support that the Thorsby FFA received throughout the community and the nation.

“There was no telling who voted,” Green said. “It didn’t just happen by us alone. We thank anybody who came out to vote.”

The title of the winning design is “unleash your passion” and followed a patriotic theme that included the FFA logo in the center of the American flag on the back of the shirt.

Jerrett Posey came up with the basis for the idea, which was expanded by conversation and opinions shared by several members of the Thorsby FFA.

“Our thing was that we wanted something original,” Cody Lucas said.

The shirts can be viewed and purchased online at shopffa.org or by phone at (888) 332-2668. The cost is $17.50 and is available in sizes from small to 3XL with the option for delivery beginning in mid-April.

The shirt will remain for sale on the website for the next year.

“It’s cool to see how a little-bitty town like Thorsby is now going to be sold nationwide,” Morrison said.