The committee consists of Paul Gleason
as chair, Chuck Conzo, Bill Donath, JoAnne Marlin, Mary Ellen
Martin, Roger Matson, Joe Mintjal, Wanda Lee Rohlfs and John Sutton.
This is for the most part the same
group who led the community through replacing the fallen Civil War
soldier statue when the original was damaged beyond repair in a
winter storm in 2008.
The new Civil War statue was
dedicated in April of 2011. In 2012 the committee requested that the
remains of the old statue be given a proper burial in Postville
Park. It was shortly after that ceremony that the group decided they
wanted to go forward with erecting another statue on the lawn of the
Logan County Courthouse. This one would be a depiction of Abraham
Lincoln giving his historic speech on the courthouse lawn in 1858
when he was a candidate for U.S. Senate.
At that speech, before Lincoln was
president, he was coming off a round of public debates and campaigns
against his running rival, Stephen Douglas. When the Logan County
community heard that Lincoln was coming to Lincoln, more than 5,000
people gathered at the courthouse to hear him speak.
In 2008, the Main Street Lincoln
organization commissioned a painting of the speech as a
commemorative of the 150th anniversary of the gathering.
Early this year, the current
committee unveiled the statue in miniature form, which was created
using that painting as the model for Lincoln. Soon after, they
announced that they would be selling bronze miniatures as part of
their fundraising efforts.
The miniatures, which stand a
little over 20 inches tall, are being sold to collectors at a cost
of $2,000 each. The first person to purchase a miniature statue was
committee member Joe Mintjal, who is an avid collector of Lincoln
memorabilia and art. The second statue was purchased by the State
Bank of Lincoln.
The statues are numbered, and the
committee has commissioned a total of 30 to be made, with the mold
to be broken at the end of the commission.
Tuesday evening it was reported
that to date, 11 statues have been purchased. Mintjal said that he
and Bill Donath had gone to pick up statues in late October and
placed their order for the next 10. He told the committee that it
would be a good idea to go ahead and get the last 10 ordered in the
near future. He said that when the agreement for the commission was
made with the manufacturer, the price was guaranteed for one year.
He said they wanted to be sure to have all 30 purchased before the
year ran out and the price of the work changed.
Paul Gleason reported that he would
be doing a one-hour class presentation on Wednesday at West Lincoln-Broadwell
School, and Roger Matson discussed the fundraiser that the school
will be doing for the committee.
The fundraiser is scheduled for
Nov. 23 at the Lincoln Art Institute. Matson said Tony Newton is the
history and art teacher at WLB. Newton will assist his classes in
creating Abraham Lincoln art that will then be on display in a
silent auction at the art institute.
In addition to the public being
able to bid on and purchase the kids' artwork, the miniature bronze
will be on display, and orders will be taken for that art as well.
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The committee has also ordered
postcards of the statue, and those should be available for purchase
by then.
The show and auction at the art
institute are tentatively scheduled to take place between 10 a.m.
and 2 p.m. The Saturday event will also include punch and cookies as
refreshments.
Wanda Lee Rohlfs showed the group
drawings of a new Christmas ornament showing the Lincoln statue. The
ornament should be available by the first of December. It is being
made by the same company and in the same style as the ornaments that
used to be sold by the Main Street organization.
Rohlfs said a total of 200
ornaments will be made, and they will be numbered. The first 30 will
be set aside and given to the 30 businesses or individuals who
purchase the miniature bronzes.
Rohlfs said the ornaments will come
in a hunter green box and will include a certificate. She said she
still needed to work on what the certificate would say but will get
that task completed in the near future.
Matson said he would like to see
something at the fundraiser where people could order the ornament.
He also noted that he had talked to someone already who has spoken
for six of them.
The group discussed for several
minutes how the ornaments should be priced. In the end, they decided
to ask an even $20 per ornament. It was reported that the leftover
Main Street ornaments from previous years are going for about that
price. The committee felt that asking $20 for a fundraising ornament
would not be too much of a stretch when the buyer realizes the money
is going directly to the statue.
In other business, Rohlfs shared
printouts of local media coverage of the Northwest School field day
in October. That day, students from Ms Marla Williams' history
classes toured the State Bank of Lincoln and visited the LCGHS.
Rohlfs also told the group that she
had spoken with one of the Northwest students regarding their penny
drive fundraiser. The student told her the school had collected over
$300 for the statue committee. Rohlfs said this was not official
information, as she has not yet spoken with Ms. Williams.
As their final act of business for
the night, the committee decided to forgo a December meeting due to
the holidays, but they said that if a special meeting was needed,
one could be called.
[By NILA SMITH] |