BY CAROL SOUTH
TRAVERSE CITY -- "Where's the panther?"
Perched in front of the school, the new Long Lake Elementary mascot is back -- and should outlast generations of students. After the wooden one disintegrated and was removed, students missed the mascot that made its home at the school's front door for years.
"The kids came back and would say, 'Where's the panther?'" said Terra Walters, a parent at the school.
Unveiled twice on a recent Friday -- once for students and staff in the morning and again that afternoon during the school carnival -- the replacement eight-foot-long, 36-inch tall steel panther was created by Curtis Warnes of Empire. Realistic and almost brooding, the wiry cat is depicted in mid-stride and seems coiled to spring.
The steel structure replaces a wooden panther of indeterminate age that had disintegrated. His ear fell off last year and, by summer, the whimsical statue was so worn out it exited the scene before the new school year began.
Some mom-to-mom networking prompted Warnes to volunteer to make a replacement. His son, Kyle, 4, attends the speech therapy class at the school and his family was pleased to contribute something back. Wheelock & Sons Welding in Long Lake Township donated the powder coating that will help preserve the piece from the elements.
"Jamie (Warnes' wife) called me and asked if I could do it and knowing how tight budgets are, I told her I could donate it," said Warnes. "Our major motivation was to help someone that's helped us."
The donation also comes as Warnes works to expand his artistic footprint in the community. He is already nationally known for his business, Steel Appeal, which designs and creates home and bathroom accessories, accents and furnishings out of steel.
"This is the first public sculpture I've done," said Warnes, who owns Left Foot Gallery in Empire. "This area is a great area, they really support their local artists -- we're kind of special in that way."
Warnes designed the sculpture, which volunteers installed the night before the unveiling, using different pictures in catalogs and books. He strove to create a leg structure that he liked and would work with the multi-piece design. He also proportioned the panther to fit in its raised bed garden home, neither overwhelming it nor looking too small.
"I'd like to be a sculptor full-time," he said. "Really, I can do anything with steel and metal."
The second unveiling of the lifelike panther drew a crowd of enthusiastic onlookers because it was held during the school's annual carnival. This fund raising event featured activities, games, crafts, dinner and more, garnering $6,300 before expenses to help with the next phase of playground equipment. Last year's carnival money purchased equipment that was installed during a recent work bee.
"A lot of our playground equipment is at the end of code so we are redoing the playground for our kids," said Connie Bowman, president of the Long Lake Elementary School PTO.
Long Lake Elementary School has an active PTO that supports the school in multiple ways and holds two annual fund raisers.
Parents and school staff are extra busy this time of year preparing for the influx of students from closing Norris Elementary School.
"Norris has a really beautiful garden they've done so we are trying to talk about ways to move it and incorporate that -- to bring a part of their history here," said Walters.
