The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Artist Squire Broel's monument, to be placed in downtown Waitsburg in May, was chosen by the Waitsburg Art Commission to honor the three founding fathers of the Waitsburg community: William Bruce, William Preston and Sylvester Wait. It is Broel's desire that the piece will also recognize the efforts of the countless other individuals who quietly labored to make Waitsburg the town it is today.

"Each individual - regardless of level of recognition - makes an impact on their community," said Broel.

To honor those efforts, the artist is inviting community members to make a small mark on the new monument by adding an impression of their thumb or fingerprint to the clay surface of the sculpture.

Eventually, that surface will be cast in bronze - essentially memorializing the individual efforts made on the piece.

Broel will visit Waitsburg on Dec. 9 to give presentations on the symbolism and process behind the sculpture to the middle and high school students. The community is invited to attend the high school presentation which will take place in the

WHS auditorium at 10:30 a.m. that day.

Broel will return on Dec. 11 to visit individual elementary classrooms and allow Waitsburg students and community members to make their impression on the sculpture.

"Familiarity with the artwork, the process and the artist will help create ownership in the minds of the students," said district superintendent Carol Clarke.

Community members are invited to visit the elementary school music room between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 to make their impression on the clay panel. The panel will also be available for marking before and after the 6:30 p.m. elementary school Christmas program that same evening, from 6-6:30 and 7:30-8:30 p.m.