The village of Sherman’s marketing campaign, “Shop Sherman, Support Local,” will include buying four wooden cow cutouts from the chamber of commerce and moving them through the village to promote various businesses. Submitted photo

SHERMAN — Have you “Herd About Sherman?” This village is really moo-ving ahead.

As part of the village’s marketing campaign, “Shop Sherman, Support Local,” the municipality will be joining in the Sherman Chamber of Commerce’s “Customize the Cow” fun.

The village will purchase four cows creating a herd. The idea is to push the “Herd About Sherman” campaign, said Mayor Colleen Meeder, drawing attention to different businesses and events around Sherman.

The village will create four cow “personalities” named Harriet, Edith, Ruby and Daisy. There will be one Jersey, one Lineback and two Holsteins, Meeder said.

“We are going to give them whole personalities, use them to promote Sherman, while informing people about dairy farming,” she said.

The cows are wood cutouts, purchased as part of the Sherman Chamber of Commerce Cow Decorating Contest, “Customize the Cow.” Businesses, organizations and residents alike can purchase a cow cutout from the chamber and decorate it however they desire.

The prize for the best decorated cow will be a gift basket containing items and gift certificates from Sherman businesses. Funds raised from the contest will be used for upcoming chamber events, such as the bluegrass/folk festival in September.

Meeder said the “Herd About Sherman” campaign will be used to promote everything about the village. “This will be a fun way to highlight businesses and activities around Sherman through the personalities the village is creating after purchasing four cutouts from the chamber,” she said. “The village is not competing in the contest, merely joining in the fun while promoting Sherman.”

The village is further promoting economic development in Sherman by drawing attention to its history, Meeder said.

“We are discussing ways to do this right now, starting in 2022 with recognizing the Morse Hotel, the greatest loss in modern Sherman history, when it burned in the ’90s,” she said. “This is probably the single most well-known and recognized feature in Sherman, often reminisced by locals and friends of Sherman.”

Meeder said in 2023, the village will not focus on a building, but will commemorate the town of Sherman’s bicentennial celebration.

“The town’s historian, Annette Swan, explained that the Sherman Main Streetscape is the most identifiable feature when thinking about Sherman,” she said.