Dedication set for Friday for benches at Commodore Pump Sculpture

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A dedication ceremony for benches recently donated and installed at the Commodore Pump Sculpture near the Perrysburg Board of Education office building in downtown Perrysburg will take place on Friday.

The public is invited to this free event.

In related news, the school board officially named this property at the corner of Louisiana and Indiana avenues One of the benches was donated by Friends of the Kleeberger Family and the other was donated by All Thumbs Garden Club. Volunteers installed the benches.

The two new benches will be dedicated at the ceremony, which are adjacent to the Old Town Pump sculpture that was created and donated by the late Ralph Kleeberger, who was a lifelong resident of Perrysburg and a well-loved educator.

The sculpture was dedicated on Oct. 10, 2009 to The Children of Perrysburg – Past, Present and Future. The statue features a young boy and girl at the town pump. The bronze statute sits on a 9,000-pound granite base on a cement pad.

Mr. Kleeberger graduated from Perrysburg High School in 1946 and began sculpting when he retired in 1986 from Northwood Schools, where he spent more than 30 years as a business teacher and guidance counselor. He worked off and on over the past six years on the clay sculpture of a boy and girl at the town pump, using two local children as his models, Samantha O’Neil and Griffin McCulloch.

The Perrysburg Area Arts Council helped arrange for the casting of the sculpture by Flatlanders Sculpture Supply and Gallery in Blissfield, Mich., and monitored the project. Mr. Kleeberger passed away on Dec. 15.

“We are proud to have this opportunity to honor Ralph’s memory and his dream to share his art with our community,” stated Thomas L. Hosler, Perrysburg Schools superintendent.

“We are grateful to the Kleeberger Family & Friends and All Thumbs Garden Club for this wonderful addition of benches to the grounds near his beautiful sculpture. It’s partnerships like these that show how strong the bond is in our community.”