Allen Taylor named America's greatest thinker at New York Mills Think-Off

New York Mills kept its place on the national map this June as Allen Taylor of Colorado Springs was named America’s Greatest Thinker at the 33rd Great American Think-Off. More than 300 people attended the June 12-13 events in Otter Tail County, where the final debate turned the New York Mills School Auditorium into a stage for a question with a very modern edge: whether the pursuit of happiness has made Americans unhappy.

For a town this size, the Think-Off is about more than a trophy and a title. The annual event brings visitors into New York Mills, draws attention to local venues and keeps the community in front of a national audience that has included C-SPAN, The New York Times and The Today Show. It also reinforces the town’s identity as a place that makes room for ideas, not just summer traffic.

Taylor won after advancing through multiple rounds before a live audience vote settled the debate on Saturday, June 13, at 7 p.m. The finalists were selected from essays submitted from across the country and around the world, and each received a $500 cash prize along with travel, lodging and meals covered by the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center. The finalist list included Thaddeus McCamant of Frazee, Julie Iverson of Minneapolis, Lorie Kolak of Riverside, Illinois and Solape Adeyemi of Lagos, Nigeria before a finalist change narrowed the live field.

McCamant’s presence gave the event an especially local edge for Otter Tail County, with a neighbor community represented on the stage in New York Mills. Taylor’s victory, though, showed the contest’s broader reach, pulling a winner from Colorado Springs into a debate that started in a small Minnesota town and ended with national bragging rights.

The Think-Off has been held annually since 1993, when Cultural Center founder John Davis started it as an exhibition of civil disagreement meant to make philosophy accessible beyond academia. That mission still fits the event’s format, which turns a complicated question into a public contest that is both lively and serious.

The weekend also included a Philosophers & Artists Reception, a historical walking tour and a regional art show built around the theme “before we were happy.” After a 2025 Think-Off that drew about 300 people in person and hundreds more online, the 2026 turnout showed the tradition still has staying power. In a county where summer events compete for attention, the Think-Off remains one of New York Mills’ most distinctive draws, and one of its most durable sources of civic pride.