Garfield Statues..Thursday August 4th and 5th, 2011

I needed a project so I got on my bike:

and rode around Grant County to take pictures of all the Garfield statues.  First I rode to Van Buren and the first statue, "Wordly Cat", that's in front of the library:

(Click on all the pictures to see larger versions)

I was puzzled at the "Wordly" part until I realized he was standing on books.  Selling "popcorn" around the "world" part is obvious.

I'll bet I'm not the only one that remembers going to Van Buren and watching the "Aces" play basketball in the gym that was there!

Next off to Upland and the "Scream for Ice Cream" Garfield:

I had a little trouble locating this statue as it's inside the Upland Town Hall.  It's easy to get to as it's just inside the front door. 87 N. Main Street..middle of town.  It should be in front of Ivanhoe's but maybe safer where it is.

Update:  The Upland Garfield statute has been moved and is now located beside Ivanhoe's Restaurant.


After Upland, it's just a short ride to Matthews and it's "Along The Lazy River" statue.  However, due to vandalism, the Matthews statue has been removed for repairs.  It was located down by the river in Matthews.  Hopefully, it will be repaired and moved to an uptown, safer, location.  You can see the Matthews statue at the Grant county link for the Garfield Trail here: Garfield Trail
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Edit 04/25/2012: I've added the "Fisherman Garfield" today. The statue is now located at the Matthews Community Center:

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Next I rode to Fairmount and took a picture of the "Cool Cat" (reference to James Dean, of course) that's in front of the Fairmount Historical Museum:

I rode over to John's Nave's house, who lives in Fairmount, and asked him if he wanted to accompany me on my travels.  He said OK and off we rode to Swayzee and the "Speed King" statue (my favorite) (class of 1957):

The statue stands where the old Swayzee High School building stood (tear in eye).  The score board is from the old, wooden, gym that used to stand about where the black truck is in the background of the picture.  We played dodge ball, basketball, etc. in Phys Ed and I played on the six grade basketball team in that gym.  They built the new gym, now the elementary school gym, when I was in high school.  The score showing on the scoreboard meant life and death for us then! :)  Especially when we played Sweester in basketball! :)

John and I stopped at the Swayzee cafe for pie and coffee before riding on to Sweester.

The Sweester statue, "Rails to Trails" is on the back of the railroad car.  It's to depict a person going off to college with suitcases on the train cart.

Next were the two statues in Marion, the "Fit For Life" statue on 1st Street where Adams Street turns downtown (behind the old Vogel's donut store--tan colored building in the background).  It's located by the beginning of the:  Mississinewa Riverwalk

And last, for the day, was  the "Medical Professional Garfield" in front of Marion General Hospital.

After taking this picture, John and I rode home for the day.


Next day, Friday 5th of August 2011, I rode out to Arbor Trace Golf course to take a picture of the "Love The Links" statue there.  While it isn't one of the "offical" Garfield statues, it sure is nice.  It's made of wood, unlike the others.  It's located just inside the club house:

After Arbor Trace, I rode to Larry Burke's house and while there Billy Niverson rode up in his T-Rex.  

Billy and I rode over to Gas City and the "Big Boom" Garfield statue in front of the Public Library:

Billy rode out to I-69 and I went over to Jonesboro to finish my "picture taking adventure".


"Firefighter" Garfield is in front of the city hall in Jonesboro:

It was a nice way to spend a couple days, visiting with friends and riding around Grant County taking pictures.