"Connections" Sister Cities Garden
About a dozen club members braved the unseasonably cold weather to tour the new "Connections" Sister Cities Garden in Riverfront Park.
With temperatures in the low 40s, members lunched on cold (of course) sandwiches on benches, then toured the new garden which is just north of the Rotary Fountain.
Chuck Rehberg recounted the long path of the garden, which planning started after the 2005 Sister Cities International held in Spokane. College-aged members, asked to produce a legacy item for the conference, came up a reflexology path.
With Spokane-North participating under then-president Diana Riggins, 12 of the concrete panels, 4 feet square, had assorted rocks and even golf balls embedded into the concrete forms.
The reflexology panels were stored at Mukogawa Institute while the Park Department and the club talked about a site for the garden.
With the help of Washington State faculty and students at Riverpoint, plans were developed for the swirling pathways, a small, central plaza, and space for sculpture items from Spokane and its five sister cities.
The club members Sept. 30 saw the replica of the Imazu Lighthouse in Nishinomiya, Japan, and the Irish harp for the Sister City twinned with Limerick, Ireland.
The harp was sculpted by Sister Paula Mary Turnbull, famous for many works, including the trash-eating "garbage goat" in Riverfront. She died last year at age 97. Lenore Romney pushed the button which starts the harp music installed in the
sculpture. A harpist from Limerick provided the music.
When the formal dedication of the garden was staged, the Spokane sculpture -- a 5-foot high "Steel Kokanee" by artist Melissa Cole -- was brought to the garden. The big fish is now in City Hall, awaiting the pedestal for the fish to be completed.
Plans for three more sculptures are under way, including a "sotdae" series of geese or swans atop tall posts, from Jecheon, South Korea; a boat builder statue from Jilin City, China, and an historic cistern from Cagli, Italy.
Signage is still being finished, but the club's name is prominently noted on the basalt column near the entry. Our donation included a $5,000 gift to help develop the garden and also contributed to the rock path panels in 2005.
.jpg)
Bulletin Producers
Editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink
Pictures: Steve Bergman and Lenore Romney