OVERBROOK SCULPTURES STOPPING TRAFFIC / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, September 15, 1999

September 15, 1999

Overbrook — The recent erection of wagons and other figures near Overbrook has brought excitement to the community southwest of Lawrence.

A new sculpture near here has residents and travelers stopping in their tracks.

"We're just trying to draw a little attention to our history and let the passers-by know that U.S. 56 is the route of the old Santa Fe Trail," said Ed Harmison, who spearheaded the effort to have a new sculpture erected.

Last year, Harmison put up the silhouette of a wagon made of wood. But the wind eventually claimed it.

Members of the Overbrook PRIDE organization, a civic group that conducts events to support the community, then decided that a permanent structure should be displayed.

Overbrook resident Stan Friesen cut several figures out of iron, including cows, wagons and a woman.

The sculpture, north of U.S. Highway 56 about a mile east of Overbrook, was completed shortly before Labor Day, said Dee Friesen, president of the Overbrook PRIDE organization.

"Right now it's surrounded by 125 acres of sunflowers," she said. "If people want to see it, now is the time " because in another week those sunflowers will have nodded their heads and they won't be up anymore."

The PRIDE committee paid about $2,500 for materials for the sculpture. The funds were raised over the last few years from a Santa Fe Trail Day festival in Overbrook, Harmison said.

"We had some other projects in mind and this one kind of took our eye," Dee Friesen said.

Overbrook high school students had their senior pictures taken in front of the sculpture, residents said. The sculpture also has increased sightseer traffic, they said.

Motorists who want a closer view of the sculpture can turn north on Stanley Road from U.S. 56 to see it.

"A lot of people have stopped, and that road (Stanley Road) by it has probably seen more traffic in the last couple of weeks than it has all year," Harmison said.

The sculpture not only adds to the community, he said, but offers passers-by a bit of eye candy.

"Really across the state of Kansas, even driving on I-70, it can get pretty bleak," Harmison said. "If every county would do something like that, how that would increase the beauty of our state and give a little more of our history."

Overbrook's sculpture features Conestoga freight wagons, which were larger than the covered wagons used by travelers, Dee Friesen said.

-- Michael Dekker's phone message number is 832-7187. His e-mail address is mdekker@ljworld.com.