Topsail Island-Sea Turtle Hospital Fund Raiser-Topsail Island, Surf City, Topsail Beach-Real Estate News
Statues will help turtles, give area sense of identity
TOPSAIL VOICE
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 11:57 AM EST
Surf
City Art Guild member Jane Shaar’s plan for area artists and businesses
to raise money with turtle statues is a perfect fundraising opportunity
for one of North Carolina’s most famous hospitals —the Karen Beasley
Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
The idea is not new.
Shaar has participated in a similar program in Minot North Dakota where
life sized horse statues are displayed throughout the town.
Other
well known statues associated with municipalities include pirates in
Greenville, NC, cows in Boston, MA; pelicans in Pensacola, FL; crabs in
Baltimore, MD and frogs in Erie, PA.
In the case of the turtle
sculptures, local businesses and organizations will be asked to sponsor
the sculptures, which will be painted and decorated by local artists
who vie for the honor.
The completed works will be exhibited at
the sponsor’s location for a few months and auctioned off to benefit
the construction of a new turtle hospital in Surf City.
The
Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center has gained
national recognition for its success in caring for and healing sick and
injured turtles. Staffed by volunteers, the hospital has successfully
aided turtles in various conditions of distress and then, when healthy
enough, returned the turtles to their natural habitat.
The
program has been so successful that the hospital is often times looking
for space to house the growing patient list. A new facility, now
several years in planning, is needed.
Businesses and organizations
that sponsor the statues will have the honor of having the finished
turtle statue placed at their location until the auction. Besides the
obvious good will to come from this sponsorship, it could build
additional support for the hospital.
At auction time, the sponsors, along with the public, will have the opportunity to bid on each of sea turtle sculptures.
In
addition to the monetary benefits for the sea turtle hospital and the
obvious prestige for the winning bidders, the statues will provide a
strong local identity for the community as well.
The greater Topsail
area, from Hampstead to Sneads Ferry and all the Topsail Island towns,
lacks a strong visual connection. The turtle statues could change that,
giving the area a sense of identity and unity that would make it unique
and set it apart from other coastal areas.
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