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 Abe
had been missing for a few weeks, taking a break off the wagon seat
for a refreshening of his paint and a repair to his law book.
Over the New Year Holiday weekend, vandals had struck the wagon,
causing serious damage to the back gate and the back wheels. For the
past several years Brad Matthews and his crew at Matthews
Construction have taken care of the wagon. The crew replaced the
back gate and built two new back wheels. The canvas cover for the
wagon was discovered to be worn and torn from age so a new one has
been ordered and will go on when it arrives.
To do the work required to spruce up Abe, the statue
was removed with help of RBG Towing, and on Friday that same towing
company was back out at the wagon site to assist with getting Abe
back in his seat.
RBG arrived in the parking lot adjacent to the wagon
a little before 10 a.m.
Soon after, Abe arrived, riding on a trailer pulled
by Matthews Construction. Vehicles started converging on the parking
lot, and in a matter of minutes the crew was in place and ready to
plop Abe back in his seat.
Have you ever wondered who wrote the lawbook that Abe
is so devoted to reading every minute of every day? Well, here’s
your answer. When the statue arrived, the book which had needed
repair was nothing but blank pages.
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It was none other than Matthews himself who before
hoisting the statue into the air, added content to the two pages Abe
was viewing. Matthews even signed and dated the pages, noting the
date of Abe’s last facelift.
RBG Towing then came into play, hoisting the statue up into the air,
with the intention of sliding Abe into his seat on the wagon. That
was the intent, and for a while it seemed to be going just as
planned. But Abe had his own ideas. While the statue reached the
seat, Abe refused to sit down.
Bob Gaston was on hand along with his grandson
Robbie. Bob retired in March and Robbie is now taking over the
business. Bob had watched the process of the lift and as he noted
the difficulty Abe was having with getting seated. He quietly told
Robbie and Matthews that the center of gravity was off on the
statue. The blue roping around Abe’s mid-section was too low. He
recommended that the crew bring Abe back down to the ground and
rework the blue rope.
Robbie and Matthews made it so, and the blue rope was
pushed higher under Abe’s armpits.
Then the statue was raised again, and this time,
within a matter of seconds, Abe slid into his seat and rested
comfortably right where he belonged.
In addition to the back gate repair and Abe’s
facelift, one of the large wagon wheels was in place, with the other
one to be delivered and installed as soon as the stain was applied.
With this, the Guinness Book of Records’ Worlds Largest Covered
Wagon was in pretty good shape for tourists and garage sale shoppers
coming into Lincoln over the weekend.
[Nila Smith]
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