ThunderCloud Subs launches registration today for the 26th annual ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot, and has revealed the 2016 winning artwork for the Thanksgiving Day tradition benefitting Caritas of Austin.

ThunderCloud selected Bastrop resident and mixed-media artist Rebecca Vick as the winner of the contest, and presented her with the prize: 365 vouchers for free ThunderCloud sandwiches!

In addition to receiving a year’s worth of ThunderCloud subs, Vick will see her artwork displayed on 20,000 Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot T-shirts this November as well as all over town on event guides, posters, website, social media, and more.

“I was on cloud nine!” Vick says of learning that her artwork was chosen.

“I made the turkey on a mixed medium canvas with lots and lots of layers,” Vick says of her winning design. The blue and green background is a lined music sheet covered with watercolor paint, and topped with a stamp pattern. Some components were cut from different pieces of scrapbook paper, and others were hand-drawn using acrylic paint. “It’s really a mixture of a lot of different techniques, and I’m thrilled with the way it turned out,” she says.
 
Vick grew up in Leander, currently lives in Bastrop, and has been a longtime ThunderCloud customer. Her sister worked at the ThunderCloud in Cedar Park, and Vick went to ThunderCloud on Riverside and S. Congress every day when she lived in South Austin.

“All of the employees knew me, and they always remembered my regular order when I came into the store,” said Vick. “It was wonderful.”

Vick’s art business is called Create with Rebecca. She is also a self-professed “planner addict.” However, Vick’s planner isn’t of the routine datebook variety—it’s a true work of art; a cross between a scrapbook, visual journal, and calendar. It’s chock-full of ornate clips, decorative paper cutouts, appointment stickers, calligraphy, stamps, and beautiful embellishments.

Vick founded a group called ATX Planner Addicts in 2015, more than 400 Central Texas residents who meet monthly to share ideas, inspiration, and friendship.

Vick and her family will participate in the Trot for the first time this year.

“We’re really excited to dress up in fun costumes and see all the shirts featuring my artwork. I’ve heard from tons of friends and coworkers over the years that the Turkey Trot is a blast, and we’re going to be kicking our Thanksgiving morning off by doing the one-mile walk before heading to my mom’s house to indulge in our regular feast,” says Vick.

The ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot will launch the Art Contest to design next year’s logo this fall, giving other local artists the chance to win a year’s worth of free ThunderCloud Subs in 2017. 

Always held on Thanksgiving Day, the Trot includes a five-mile run, one-mile walk, and a Kids’ K that take place outside the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

Early online registration for the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot is $20 for the untimed five-mile, $25 for the timed five-mile, $18 for the one-mile walk, and $8 for the Stepping Stone School Kids’ K. All registrations include a T-shirt and runners guide. Registration prices will increase starting Oct. 11.