LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -MAY 29, 2016
WaitingForThePlinth
byLynneBelluscio
Asmostofyouknow theStatue
of Liberty on the creekbankwas
removed last year andwas taken
toMcKay Lodge Art Conserva-
tion Lab in Oberlin, Ohio. She
was repaired and refinished and
a fewweeks ago, I went out to
pickher upandbringher back to
LeRoy.Thankyou to the folks at
Orcon,whobuiltaspecialpadded
crate for her trip.
The next step is to replace the
cement base - - - more properly
calledaplinth.Theoriginalplinth
was cast inplace byB.R.Dewitt
which included the eleven point
star at the base. The plinth was
carefully measured and drawn.
We sent out for bids. Four dif-
ferent cement companies were
contactedandSouthsideConcrete
inBuffalooffered the best price.
In the meantime, Bob Lathan
at theVillageDPW said that they
would be able to remove the old
plinth. We had no idea what was
under it. But as it was lifted up,
the whole foundation came with
it.Whatwas leftwasa ratherdeep
hole, which is great, since a new
foundation had to be poured. No
problem, Bob made sure the ce-
mentwasordered,andanew foun-
dationwas poured this lastweek.
I checkedwithSouthsideCon-
crete and DerrickMonument to
makesurewehadaplan toset the
newplinthon the foundation,and
they both suggested using a soft
mortar layer.Soweknowhow to
set thenewplinthwhen it arrives
which I havediscovered,maybe
onlyafewdaysbeforewehope to
rededicate thestatueonSaturday
ofOatkaFestival.
In themeantime, the Statue of
Libertywas in the land office of
the LeRoy House, but I thought
she would look better on the
secondfloor in the exhibit room,
so I asked the two guys from
StaffordPainters,whowerehere
painting the back porch, if they
could move the Statue upstairs.
Not a problem and up shewent.
(Ifyouwant tostopandhaveyour
picture taken with her, LeRoy
House is openweekends).
Thisweekwe
had a group of
foreign visitors
from England
and Austra-
lia and I asked
them if theyhad
a chance to get
to New York
City to see the
Statue of Lib-
erty. They said
no.So Isaid, I’ll
open LeRoyHouse and you can
goupandhaveyourpicture taken
withourStatueofLiberty. Iwish
Ihad taken theirpicture,but Ican
tell you theywere really excited
about their visit to LeRoy, and
although they all enjoyed the
Jell-OMuseum, they will never
forget theStatue of Liberty!
Because thenewplinthwillnot
be ready soon, I calledBubba’s
Landscaping and told them,
that they could begin the new
landscaping. The concern was
whether there would be a prob-
lemwith the equipment needed
to lift the new plinth in place,
but Bob Lathan told me that
there wouldn’t be an issue and
theDPW could put the plinth in
place after the new landscaping.
Hopefully,soon,Bubba’swillbe-
gin thenew retainingwallwhich
will expose the eleven point star
in the ground. New lightingwill
be included in the wall so they
can remove the ugly old light.
Thenew retainingwallwill look
much like the landscaping that
Bubba is installing in front of his
office onLakeStreet.
TheLeRoyGardenClub, who
has maintained the planting
around the Statue, has agreed to
replant thenew area, andPully’s
Farm Market has offered free
annuals for this summer. The
problem is that the flowers can’t
be planted until July, so Pully’s
hasofferednotonly todonate the
plants,but theywillbeputting the
red, white and blue plants into
large planters that can bemoved
intoplace just before thededica-
tion. Later, theGardenClubwill
make plans for perennials.
Right now, the dedication of
theStatue isplanned for 2pmon
Saturday of the Oatka Festival.
That might change, but I will
keep you posted. Pat Fussell has
agreed to sing the Irving Berlin
song, “GiveMeYourTired,Your
Poor.” Tom Cox has offered to
find themusic. Laura and Justin
Williamswillsing“HereIStand”
whichwaswrittenbyMaxSmith.
Therewill be a speech and some
special presentations to those
folks who have helpedwith this
specialproject.Later thatnight,at
6pm, theLeRoyOldTimeBand
will play a concert of patriotic
musicon thecreekbank.Wehope
you will bring your lawn chair
and enjoy the evening.
I have to tell you a funny
story. I keep telling everyone
that they need to add “plinth”
to their vocabulary. I told the
second grade students about the
StatueofLibertyandher“plinth.”
When I talked to theRotaryClub
about the Strengthen theArm of
Libertyproject, I told themabout
the “plinth.” I even caught Bob
Lathan using the word “plinth.”
So I’mwatching a documentary
on television a couple of days
ago, about an Egyptian temple,
and I nearly jumped off the
couch, when the narrator talked
about“fourteenplinths” that they
discovered. (Itdoesn’t takemuch
togetme to jumpoff the couch.)
So things are moving right
along for our Statue of Liberty
and soon shewill be backon the
creekbank. I’m just keeping my
fingerscrossed that theplinthwill
arrive in time.
