Front and center in the City of Bartlesville’s new campaign to promote healthy habits during this age of the coronavirus, B’ville Bill can seemingly be seen just about everywhere these days.

A cartoon buffalo, B’ville Bill promotes the “Three W’s” – Wash Your Hands, Wear Your Mask and Watch Your Distance – while sporting gloves, boots and a COVID-19 busters belt buckle.

As for his omnipresent status within the City of Legends, B’ville Bill can be found on social media, billboards, posters, flyers and even the water towers along Adams Blvd.

But Paul Stuart and Tyler Vaclaw decided that wasn’t enough. They’d like to allow likenesses of B’ville Bill to reside on their respective bodies. Permanently. And, you can help make that happen.

Stuart is a Bartlesville city council member representing Ward 2 while Vaclaw is a former school board member. The pair have created a new Go Fund Me site to benefit the Bartlesville Regional United Way and the programs of its 14 nonprofit member agencies, with this stated agreement: If their new campaign generates at least $25,000 in donations by no later than midnight on Dec. 31, 2020, then both Stuart and Vaclaw will get B’ville Bill tattoos. The tattoos will be at least one square inch in size.

“I love this idea,” says Lisa Cary, the CEO and president of the Bartlesville Regional United Way. “It represents a fun way to raise awareness about the city’s new campaign to combat COVID while also raising money for a great cause. Those of us at the Bartlesville Regional United Way are very thankful to Paul and Tyler for coming up with this idea, and I certainly hope they’ll soon be sporting new tattoos.”

While the fundraising idea is certainly fun, as a city councilman, Stuart is aware of the damage which the coronavirus has wrought throughout the world, in this country and in Bartlesville. The city’s campaign featuring B’ville Bill was made possible through federal stimulus funds, and it launched in mid-December. It’s due to span approximately four months.  

The slogan of the city’s campaign is “Protect Our Herd,” which conceivably becomes easier as more individuals follow recommended health and safety guidelines such as the “Three W’s.”

“This GoFundMe effort is meant to build on the City’s COVID-19 ‘Three W’s’ campaign and to raise money for the Bartlesville Regional United Way to fund projects at our local healthcare non-profits,” says Stuart. “These organizations have been hit hard this past year because of fewer donations while needing to meet increased demand for their services.

“I am hopeful that we will meet this goal of raising more than $25,000 by the end of the year, and that we can do our part by following the CDC’s guidelines to help keep Bartlesville healthy.”

To learn more about the city’s campaign to inform citizens about good health practices to guard against COVID-19, please visit their website at www.cityofbartlesville.org or follow them on Facebook. Bartlesville offers a free email newsletter as well – the City Beat – which those interested can subscribe to for free on the city website.

You can learn more about the Bartlesville Regional United Way by visiting its dedicated website at www.bartlesvilleuw.org.