First Lady to dedicate Millennium sculpture

Indiana First Lady Judy O’Bannon will unveil the Corydon Millennium Committee’s final project, a large limestone sculpture by Larry Beisler of Elizabeth, on Saturday morning at 10 o’clock.
Beisler’s bas relief work is designed to reflect early Harrison County history and features images of William Henry Harrison, Corydon’s First State Capitol, the Constitution Elm, the Smith cabin where Harrison stayed, and Jenny Smith, the young girl who sang the song from which Corydon gets its name.
Beisler was commissioned last year by the Corydon Millennium Committee to create a stone piece for the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center at 310 N. Elm St., opposite the Gov. Hendricks Headquarters and across Elm Street from the Harrison County Court House.
Beisler has worked on the 8,600-pound piece of Indiana limestone from Bloomfield at his studio south of Elizabeth that overlooks the Ohio River.
Another Millennium project will be included in the ceremony. O’Bannon will be presented with an official Corydon paperweight, which was designed by the committee. They were hand-sculpted by Zimmerman Art Glass of Corydon, and the Corydon logo was etched by Jeff Adams. One hundred numbered paperweights were made, and Judy O’Bannon will get No. 1.
“A Place to Belong, Images of Corydon, Indiana, 1850-1975” a 240-page photo book, is another Millennium Committee project. O’Bannon wrote the introduction, from which the title was taken. More than 1,200 books have been sold. Corydon’s Larry Ordner selected the photos from works by various Corydon photographers and edited the book.
(Recently the committee won a certificate of commendation for the book from the American Association for State and Local History. The award will be presented in September in Indianapolis.)
The committee is also responsible for the design and production of the official Corydon flag. These four projects are the result of more than two years of effort by volunteers recruited by Main Street Corydon and the town of Corydon representatives.
The call to action came from Indiana’s First Lady when she suggested that communities come together to create lasting projects while they celebrated the Millennium.
In 1999, O’Bannon said, “Fireworks and parades will surely bring in the new Millennium, but think beyond the celebration and work together toward long-term projects in our community.”
Millennium Committee members are: Ordner, Floyd (Bud) Bennett, Cathy Buschemeyer, Fred Cammack, Barbara Childers, Dan Conway, Becky Eckart, Jan Frederick, Frederick P. Griffin, Pam Bennett Martin, Roy A. McKim, Roger Miller, Gordon Pendleton, William Taylor, Darrell Voelker and Michael B. Wiseman.
Saturday’s unveiling of Beisler’s sculpture is open to the public.