SARANAC LAKE — The button design for this year’s Saranac Lake Winter Carnival has been released, and people the Enterprise asked on the street said they liked it.

Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau has designed the carnival buttons every year since 1981. Using the Winter Carnival’s 2019 theme “Prehistoric Park,” this year’s illustration depicts Doonesbury character Zonker riding a mammoth while facing down a saber-toothed cat in the right foreground.

“I think Garry Trudeau embodies the Winter Carnival there,” Cassandra Hopkins said. She said it was likely that the imagery would inspire parade goers as well.

Joe Moore, who said he’s been going to Winter Carnival every year since 1982, liked the button more than those of previous years.

“It’s pretty good. I like it much more than some of pins for a while.” Moore said. “It’s got a little bit more of the old spirit to it.”

“I like it,” Maureen Sayles said. “I think it compares favorably to previous years.”

Debra Short said she liked the button design compared to previous pieces, especially the mammoth.

“Some of them are just too cartoony for me,” Short said. “It just looks more natural to what we think. The mammoth is pretty cool.”

Posters typically accompany each button design, but this year’s posters are not ready yet.

Colleen Conroy said 2019 will be her first Winter Carnival, and the button would do a good job of pulling newcomers in.

“It’s pretty prehistoric looking,” Conroy said. “I think it would draw me into this because it’s a little, ‘What is this about?'”

The prehistoric theme was chosen in April, according to Winter Carnival PR representative Colleen O’Neill.

“Before that, theme ideas were solicited from the community and narrowed down by the carnival committee to three,” O’Neill wrote in an email, “prehistoric park, masquerade ball, and wizards and dragons.”

When narrowing down theme ideas, O’Neill said committee members weighed factors such as suitability for a parade, construction of the Ice Palace and whether it could be used to generate suitable music for the festivities.

“Many us of us liked the prehistoric park theme because it would be relatable and enjoyed by all ages,” O’Neill wrote. “It seemed like it would be a lot of fun too! I expect to see a lot of dinosaurs out there.”

The 2019 Winter Carnival will take place Feb. 1 to 10. For more information, visit www.saranaclakewintercarnival.com

The button costs $4 and will be available at a number of merchants here in town, such as Adirondack Bank, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Adirondack Wine & Liquor, ADK CAVU Cafe, Amanda’s Village Motel, Ampersound, Bear Essentials Apparel, Belvedere Restaurant, Blue Line Sports, Blue Moon Cafe, Coakley Home and Hardware, Community Bank (Lake Flower Avenue and Broadway locations), Eco Living, Fusion Market, Goody Goody’s, Hyde Mobil (Lake Flower Avenue and Broadway locations), Janie’s for Hair, Kinney Drugs, Lakeview Deli, McKenzie’s Grille, NBT Bank, Post Office Pharmacy, Rice Furniture, Saranac Lake Adult Center, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Saranac Lake Wine & Liquor, Saranac Village at Will Rogers, Village Mercantile and Tops Markets.

Buttons will also be sold during Winter Carnival at its headquarters, located at the Regional Office for Sustainable Tourism office at 193 River St.