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Sesquicentennial mural erected in pocket park
By Steve Moyer
Nevada Daily Mail
The mural commissioned to mark Vernon County's Sesquicentennial arrived on Tuesday and workers spent most of the day mounting the 18-by-8 foot, 850-pound, three-dimensional work.
It arrived at about 9 a.m., in the back of a U-Haul truck, and was greeted with an air of much anticipation by members of the Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce, the mural committee and city officials.
The project had been under consideration since November when solicitations for bids were sent out. The final choice was made by balloting the city council, the Vernon County Arts Council and the mural committee earlier this year. The field of candidates was narrowed to three, and according to a March 2 article in the Daily Mail, Wendie Lemay's proposal was accepted in a subsequent meeting. Lemay was notified as soon as the ballots were taken and had hoped to deliver the project in time for Bushwhacker Days but delays forced the installation to wait a week.
The mural, in the pocket park on the east side of the Nevada Square, is in place; but Lemay said she would like it to be a work in progress.
"When I first designed it I wanted the light on the locomotive to light up when someone came close, steam to come out of the stack and for a whistle to toot," Lemay said. "The way it is the light is powered by a solar cell and stays on all night. I'd like to see it work the way I first envisioned it."
Lemay spent many long nights working the project and toward the end the long hours were beginning to take a toll.
"The other night I was working late and I couldn't even think how to spell warrior," Lemay said.
Her mother, Alice Stevenson, backed her story. "She called me late at night and asked me how to spell it, she was really tired."
Nevada City Engineer Ron Clow was on hand Tuesday to supervise the mural installation, and to assure its safety. The mural is mounted 10 feet above the ground on two steel posts at the rear of the park, facing the front of the park.
Terry Ramsey, Bushwhacker Museum director, said the placement of the mural was deliberate. "The idea is to draw people back into the park," Ramsey said. "There is so much detail you can't see it all driving past."
Kathi Wysong, Nevada/Vernon County Chamber of Commerce director, said that Lemay's mural shows off the themes the mural committee wanted to emphasize to best advantage. "She delineated those three themes very well," Wysong said. "The mural helps point out the longevity of our community and the history of the area very beautifully."
Wysong said that now that this project is finished she was planning a guide to help people locate all of the murals.
"Now this one is up, the next step is to create a guidebook for a pedestrian walking tour," Wysong said.
Lemay said she recently lost a friend who had helped her with the project. "This has been a good project, but a hard one," Lemay said. "The man, Douglas Worley Sr., who gave me a lot of ideas and helped me a lot just died of a heart attack. He gave me the idea to use the tiles I make on the mural."
The mural features the names of many of the towns that exist, or used to exist, in Vernon County on tiles that are attached to the mural. Unfortunately, that has led to some confusion over the names. A map sent to Lemay had many of the towns names misspelled so there is some updating and correcting that needs to be done to get the mural truly finished. "That's something that isn't too hard to correct," Lemay said. "I can change the tiles without disturbing the rest of the mural."
Lemay performed a few minor touch-ups on the mural on Tuesday.
Lemay said she was grateful to the city workers who had put in so much effort to get the mural installed.
"These guys have been great," Lemay said. "They just pitched in and did a wonderful job, and on a day like this. Something like this mural is a group project and I have been lucky in the people who have helped me."
The mural will be dedicated at a time to be announced later. "We'll do it sometime during an event that we already celebrate, like National Night Out," Wysong said.
Lemay's mural joins five other murals including the first, Osage -- The Lone Canoe, painted by the late Ed Koski, dedicated in July 1997. That mural has now been taken down due to weather damage and will be installed in an interior location to protect it from further damage. "We're going to get that put up, we just need to find the right place for it," Wysong said. "We also have two "ghost murals" as we call them, The Diamond Tire one across from the library and the other, a Coca-Cola one is in the east end."
Wysong expressed her appreciation for all of the help and support the city has provided over the years.
"We just couldn't have done this without them," Wysong said. "The manpower and help they've provided making sure the murals meet city codes is above and beyond the call of duty. We have such a wonderful community that is willing to pitch in and help, it's great."