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New metal sculptures to greet runners

Milepost markers to raise money for Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery

Paula Davenport  •  Staff writer
Published May 4, 2007

Bloomsday statues are on display at the Washington Trust Bank in Spokane. (JED CONKLIN The Spokesman-Review ) Related information Read more

There'll be some new, madcap characters at every mile marker on the Bloomsday course this year.

"Beehive Betty," "Louis Legstrong" and "Stroller Mom" will be among seven brightly colored metal sculptures created especially for the race by Annie Trunkle-Smart, aka Blowtorch Annie.

The figures symbolize the diversity of race participants, bystanders and performers who cheer them on, said Smart, a self-taught welder and blacksmith who took up the craft on her husband's wheat farm in tiny Lind, Wash.

Here are a few of the items she's melded together to make these Bloomies: antique tractor seats, defunct propane tanks, rebar, license plates, wheels from a horse-drawn plow, tips of an old seed planter, electric fence wire and even the front suspension of the family car.

"Making them is a real spiritual and joyful journey because … out of this junk comes life, it's reincarnated," Smart said.

Area corporations paid a minimum of $5,000 apiece to sponsor the sculptures' Bloomsday appearances.

Proceeds go to the 2007 Bloomsday-designated charity—the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in Spokane, which is celebrating its 20th birthday. It's another large-scale expression of community support for "Our Kids: Our Business," an ongoing, regional effort launched last month to thwart child abuse.

A wheelchair athlete, an elite runner, a kid piggybacking on his dad's shoulders and youngsters waving at the racers will mark the remaining milestones.

Colorful, 15-foot banners of each creation will tower over them, giving herds a heads-up on the artwork.

Amy Swanson, executive director of the crisis nursery, said the sculptures expand awareness of the nursery and its ability to provide free child care and parenting classes around the clock to those who need it.

Folks may spot the statues at Saturday's prerace trade show. The nursery will be on hand to accept donations in exchange for pinwheels – the emblem of the child abuse prevention movement.

Swanson said she hopes people will display pinwheels on and along the course.

Meanwhile, the sculptures will reappear at other public events throughout the year.

Smart said she's honored to be asked to contribute to the effort.

"This is what we're about as a community," Smart said. "When we care for one another, it makes the world a better place. We heal one another – and that's not something we can do by ourselves. We have to do it as a community."