SKOWHEGAN — The Skowhegan Free Public Library had no trouble “moving more kids” Tuesday morning as five members of the high school cheerleading squad rolled a 6 foot high, 70-pound metal sculpture up Madison Avenue to the state fairgrounds.
The sculpture of an athletic shoe in motion symbolizes Skowhegan’s heritage as a hub of shoe manufacturing and to draw attention to youth fitness, said organizer Corilla Hastings.
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The library’s Community Art and Heritage Project commissioned artist Barry Norling to make the shoe from buffed and welded aluminum in 2009. A $3,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation covered the cost.
On the inside of the shoe are images of local places and famous local people painted by artist Milton Christianson.
Cheerleaders and library volunteers rolled the sculpture from the library on Elm Street about a mile to Constitution Hall on the fairgrounds, where it will remain for the duration of the fair. The 193rd annual Skowhegan State Fair begins Thursday and runs through Aug. 20.
“We’re doing it for community service, to volunteer,” said high school senior cheerleader Kelsey Brown, of Skowhegan. “It represents the public library and Move More Kids to help prevent childhood obesity.”
Move More Kids is an initiative sponsored by the New Balance Foundation to encourage children to be more active.
The Boston-based New Balance Athletic Shoe Co. is the last American company to manufacture a percentage of its shoes in the United States. It has has three factories in Maine — Skowhegan, Norridgewock and Norway — and two in Massachusetts. The company also has an outlet store in Skowhegan.
“It’s not heavy; it’s on wheels,” Katelynn Lizotte, a high school junior from Skowhegan said as the girls rolled the big shoe up Madison Avenue.
The other cheerleaders volunteering Tuesday were Kayla Field, a freshman from Cornville; Katie Wood, a junior from Skowhegan; and Samantha Santos, a junior from Canaan.
Assisting along the route were library volunteers Cindy Manuel and Judy Gamage and library director Dale Jandreau.
“The shoe spends most of its time sitting in the library and it’s hard, because only our patrons really get a chance to see it,” Jandreau said once the rolling sculpture was parked at Constitution Hall. “One of the things we figured was to roll it up the street, bring it to the fair and give everybody a chance to look at it.”
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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