Saturday, April 27, 2013

Reflecting on Ghosts

   The response to the ghost series of post I have done was both surprising and knowledgeable.  I had never done a series of posts before. I'm pretty loosey goosey when it comes to blog topics.

   I got the idea for the posts when I admired some of the statues in photos I had seen on various blogs. I was envious of the art shown on some posts and thought we didn't have much art here so I began to look.  When I looked I found much more than than I expected. For the statues , I've driven by them many times . Once I walked and took photos the Ghost statues became much more meaningful. The ten statues were done by six artists. Two artists were local people and the other four were from Alberta. The statues were funded publicly by groups . The city agreed to place  the statues at chosen locations and then look after them.

    Many of you were interested who the sculptors were. So here they are.

Reaching Out - Elden Neufeld

Waiting for Gordon- Brian McArthur

Choices - Barbara Paterson



Reverend Leonard Gaetz - Robert K. Spaith

Let the Music Play - Patricia Galbraith

Francis the Pig - Dan Mozdzendski

Hazel Braithwaite - Alan Hendersen

Francis Wright Galbraith - Dan Mozdzendski


Sound the Alarm - Robert K. Spaith

    Now when I took photos of the statues I ended at the library. Our librarian is retiring so I thought I would ,as a joke, take his picture with the ghosts. He wasn't in so spoiled my plan. I talked to him later and he didn't miss a beat and had ideas for more ghosts .He said , "How about the first paid librarian we had?" The first librarian was 17 years old and a real flapper. Her father was the library board chairman. Then he referred to Sound the Alarm which is right outside the library. He wanted to know if the two horses ever had names. If they don't have names he wants to run a contest for kids to name the horses.

    Ideas for ghosts are endless. We are only limited by the amount of money we have.

35 comments:

  1. sounds fun to find out more on those ponies

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    1. I'd never thought of names until the librarian brought it up.

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  2. A seventeen year old flapper librarian! Sounds like an interesting concept for a novel ;D

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    1. I'd never thought of that angle...maybe a movie?

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  3. They are good. You will soon have a town with more statues than people.
    Reaching out is my favourite but I don't object to any of them. It's a grand idea.

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    1. The surprising thing to me is that some of these have been here for 20 years and until you stop and take a good look at them they don't mean much.

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  4. What a fun and creative town of folks. I have noticed that bronze statues are more common out west. In Colorado many towns have at least one statue or two and many homes have some in the back yards. The fad is moving out east here and now I must post one that is close to my house! You have motivated me.

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    1. I never thought about the process being western. Yes show your art. Readers have made me much more aware of what we have and what it means.

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  5. What a great idea: naming the horses. Involvement. Brilliant.

    As I looked through the photos again I decided that my favourite was Reaching Out and then I saw Sound the Alarm again. Sooooo difficult. So good.

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    1. When I read your comment quickly I thought you wee suggesting Involvement and brilliant for horse names!!!

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  6. I liked your serie about the sculptures very much. History and art what else can you wish. Hope you find some more.

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    1. What got me thinking about these statues was the art shown in your posts.

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  7. This was an interesting series and I like the way you wrapped it up. It seems like such a good idea to do a series of posts.

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    1. I've seen other bloggers do a theme and never really came up with an idea of my own.

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  8. You are so incredibly fortunate to have such knowledgeable people around you, as well as such great art. I really enjoyed the Ghost series of posts, Red. But your loosy goosy ones are fun, too. :-)

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    1. The comments have made me think that we are fortunate as most people seem to think that there's not much in their community.

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  9. i truly enjoyed getting to know these 'people' (and pig and dog) behind the statues. every day people who made a difference and touched others. if we could all be so lucky... :)

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    1. When you start thinking about it there are many more people and events that could be used for topics.

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  10. I think I did mention in my last comment that I greatly appreciated the effort and series. Great job Red and very different read. I totally enjoyed this series. Good on you buddy.

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  11. I have enjoyed getting to know the people you have posted about! As another gift is seeing the town in which you live. Thank you, Red

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
    http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

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    1. You being a local history buff would like that angle.

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  12. Oh Red I really enjoyed looking around your town..it was fun! :)

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    1. You've given me another idea for posts. Thanks.

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  13. great idea for a series, Keith. good job!

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    1. Thanks , Phil. I wish I had a better camera and photography skill.

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  14. They're a wonderful collection of art. Each one of them is interesting and very well done bu there's something about Waiting for Gordon that really touches me with its realism. Thanks for sharing these, Red.

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    1. Thanks. Yes Waiting for Gordon sort of gives you the feeling of expectation. The family was really pleased with this one.

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  15. I've said it before but I'm greatly impressed by the civic pride that has prompted such public art. You shame many larger cities that haven't bothered to memorialize anything.

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    1. As you very well know there are people who do not appreciate any art at all and hey can be very vocal. I have another series in mind where the pieces were not liked by the public.

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  16. Creative, thoughtful and interesting. Kudos to your town....:)

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  17. Red I enjoyed your series of 'ghosts', you did a magnificent job in not only shooting the photos but finding out the information behind each one. You almost have me wanting to start a series of statues in our city, wonder how many I could find? ;-) I love the idea your librarian has, to hold a contest and have the children name the horses, brilliant idea!

    Have a wonderful week, cheers.

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  18. ooh, I missed the pig! I love the pig!

    This has been a great series of posts. :)

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  19. Red I enjoyed your posts very much. Sad to see it end. When you posted about Braithwaiteaite I googled her for more info and came across a video from a young boy doing a school project. I didn't watch it all because I didn't want to spoil what I'd see here. :)

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  20. Interesting piece on interesting pieces, Red.

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