The 8-foot-tall statue was wrapped almost like a present, complete with a golden bow.
Underneath was the result of more than two years worth of work and more than a century of inspiration — a larger-than-life bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, who visited Leavenworth 150 years ago on Dec. 3, 1859.
Both the commission chambers at Leavenworth City Hall and its atrium were full for the ceremony to unveil the statue on the south side of the building, across from a replica of the Statue of Liberty.
The $50,000 statue was funded by private donations from the community. Lincoln’s paper-filled hat was paid for by students in Leavenworth, who collected pennies and $5 bills.
Carol Dark Ayres, head of the Lincoln Statue Committee, said the statue could not have been completed without help.
“Someone asked me ‘How’d you do this?’ I said, ‘I didn’t really do it,’” she said.
Instead, she said she brought together people in the community who made it happen.
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Leavenworth, Kan. —
