A dedication ceremony was held for a newly-donated statue in Chehalis on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The donors of the statue were Mike and Susan Austin, Ben and Kristy LaCrosse, and Steve and Carol Kostanich.
They dedicated the sculpture to the students of James Lintott Elementary and Orin Smith Elementary schools.
The sculpture is located in a landscaped area as motorists drive into the parking lot shared by the two elementary schools, so it will be viewed by everyone coming and going from the schools.
“We are so appreciative of the Austins and other community members that continuously give back to Chehalis. This statue will serve as a constant reminder of the tradition of giving as well as the importance of education for our students in the Chehalis School District,” Chehalis Superintendent Rick Goble said.
The Austins are well known in the Chehalis School District for their constant generosity, according to district spokeswoman Carrina Stanton.
“In addition to leading an annual back-to-school supply drive, they are a constant presence in our district, asking what we need and helping make those supplies materialize for us,” Stanton said. “Just one small example is, this fall, they gave some carpentry pencils to our high school and Mark Wagar, who is our woodshop teacher, thanked them and mentioned that they go through hundreds of those pencils in a year, and so the Austins turned around and made a bulk order of them so he’d have a larger supply to work with.”
The statue was purchased from World of Bronze.
Mike Austin said this is their ninth statue in the community.
He has an idea for one more place they would like to place a statue, but would not say where.
