Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 03/14/2006 3:03:28 PM PST by Rakkasan1
EMIDJI, Minn., March 14 (UPI) -- Babe, Paul Bunyan's blue ox companion, a concrete statue built in 1937 by the Bemidji, Minn., Rotary Club, will be getting $100,000 worth of repairs.
Bunyan and Babe have been featured twice in Life magazine. Kodak has said they're the second-most-photographed statues in the United States, right behind Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Babe developed a one-inch-wide crack from the neck to the hindquarters that city officials have annually fixed with caulking and blue paint, but the crack continued to widen, reported the Grand Forks Herald.
The Rotary Club raised more than $53,000 and then reached its $100,000 goal with a $68,000 federal grant. Most of the funds will be used to stabilize the ground underneath the statue, which shifts with freezing temperatures.
"Paul and Babe are icons for our community," said Warren Larson, head of the Rotary's Save Babe Committee. "Whether it's a regional or national story that comes out of Bemidji, like our Olympic curlers, the story leads with Paul and Babe."
This is where the USA girls curling team is from. :)
Disgusting waste of $100,000. That's at least one suit of body armor for a soldier, or at least one prison cell to keep some scumbag away from the rest of us...
Good for Rotary. Too bad they couldn't make it without a dip into public pockets.
If had had been advising Rotary, I'd have told them to get wider national Rotary support, and put a nice prominent plaque on it to promote Rotary to the world. Incredible advertising potential.
Or find a corporate sponsor, like 3M.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
At least one suit?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.