Friday, February 05, 2016

Reagan's birthday: 11-foot statue to be unveiled at presidential library

Reagan birthplace in 2011
Happy birthday, Ronnie!

From the Washington Times:
Saturday marks what would have been Ronald Reagan's 105th birthday, a significant and heartfelt occasion still celebrated with much ado. Consider the major event at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, complete with the Camp Pendleton Marine Division Band, a color guard, the blessings of a chaplain, a brass quintet, a 21-gun salute, an aircraft flyover, the placing of a White House wreath at the grave site and remarks by Brigadier Gen. Edward D. Banta, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and Marlin Fitzwater, Reagan's press secretary.

Then there is the new statue. It's a doozy. The 11-foot tall, 11-foot long bronze statue by sculptor Donald Reed weighs in at 2,500 pounds and will be unveiled outside the library's spectacular Air Force One Pavilion. It depicts the 40th president astride his favorite horse El Alamein and is titled "Along the Trail."

The heroic but cheerful work — privately funded, incidentally — has a secret. One of Reagan’s personal belt buckles and a piece of the Berlin Wall were wrapped in muslin and placed inside a fireproof security box — to be tucked inside the sculpture itself. Also debuting: The Ronald Reagan Presidential $1 Coin and the Nancy Reagan First Spouse Coin — both from the U.S. Mint.
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