I really like the new assortment of sculptures that adorn Santa Fe Avenue. Unveiled over the weekend, this group has a lot more impact as you drive down the street, admittedly the way I enjoy them the majority of the time. I will enjoy the sculptures on a more individual basis as the year rolls along, but I’ve learned my lesson not to get too emotionally involved with a sculpture that just might not be there the next time you drop by.

Growing up in Atchison, you were taught several things about the “Miracle City.” First and foremost, there’s no ‘n’ in the middle of Atchison, that would be a place called Hutchinson. The Amelia Earhart story. More millionaires per capita than anywhere else and the two statues Kansas is allowed in the U.S. Capitol were Atchisonians, John J. Ingalls and George Washington Glick. Points of pride one was to take to the masses from the “River City.”
Several years ago, after years of trying, Kansas was allowed to replace one of it’s statues with Dwight David Eisenhower. Now state had ever been granted permission, but in the still of night G.W.

Glick was crated up, hauled out of the nations’ capitol and sent back to Kansas. Now I like Ike, and think he deserves every accolade and monument we can muster. But I was a little disappointed that my fellow Atchisonian Glick was unceremoniously shuffled off and relegated to the dust bin of history. Literally moved to a warehouse in Topeka where all the relics of Kansas that are not on display are kept.

Protestations to congressional types received polite smiles, but they weren’t about to defend the honor of the state’s 9th governor over the man who saved Western Civilization from the Nazis. I understand. My one consolation was that Glick was the first to be removed; several states have followed our lead and replaced statues with more recognizable figures from their history. I can also console myself by staying at Glick’s mansion in Atchison, now a bed and breakfast. Now I just worry that it’s only a matter of time before John J. Ingalls is shown the door and will join his buddy Glick in a Topeka warehouse. Maybe to be replaced by Amelia Earhart, if we can find her.