STATUES ELSEWHERE
Come with us as we explore Cheryl Soon’s journey outside of Hawaiʻi pae ʻāina!
UMI & HARDY STREET ROUNDABOUT & COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE WITH SUGAR INDUSTRY HISTORY
One of the more enjoyable activities for a city planner is assisting with place making. I participated in this project for the County of Kauai as part of my assignments with SSFM International, the Hawaii-based engineering and planning firm I have worked for since 2009.
In June 2021, we travelled to Massachusetts to meet with several of my Colby College friends and their spouses. Our 50th college reunion had been cancelled for the second year in a row due to the Covid pandemic. But we were all vaccinated, healthy and feeling safe if we followed precautions.
MINUTEMAN STATUE IN CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS
PAUL REVERE STATUE IN BOSTON’S NORTH END
This may be Boston’s most photographed sculpture. And for two years in the 1970s I lived right across the street. I was living in a four story walk up at 421 Hanover Street. The street level housed Benninati store, a grocery and meat market. Mr & Mrs Benninati lived on the second floor, another Mr & Mrs Benninati lived on the third floor.
The two husbands were brothers, the two wives were sisters. All four worked in the store, the women in front at the cashiers. My roommate and I lived on the top floor. The North End at that time was an Italian district of the city; my roommate and I were Irish, so we kept a low profile.
SCULPTURES DEPICTING CHARACTERS IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
In September 2021, Ray and I took a short trip to Springfield, Mass. We were headed for the Basketball Hall of Fame in that city and then on to the Volleyball Hall of Fame in nearby Holyoke, two sports we both enjoy and both were started at YMCAs in their respective towns. Along the way, we discovered signs for a complex of museums in Springfield and decided to go exploring. Well, were we ever surprised!
I am often asked how it came to be that I wrote a book about statues. My simple response is that I became interested in the taking down of the confederate statues, but beyond that, it became an interest in the place those statues held in their community, the discussions surrounding their removal, and where to “dispose” of them. This last feature is rarely featured, perhaps because it is a story still unfolding.
BUDAPEST MEMENTO PARK
My husband Ray and I have seen many memorials to war, but this one which we visited in May 2022 stands out as the most unique and interesting. It captures the various human aspects of war, each with a wire-like sculpture to demonstrate some aspect.
LIVING MEMORIAL SCULPTURE GARDEN IN WEED, CALIFORNIA
At the start of our Viking River cruise down the Danube, we opted for a few days in Budapest. What a lively and interesting place. The heart of the city has shady walkways and grassy lawns, but is historic because of the brutal oppressions experienced there. It is overlain with statues of freedom and liberty.
