Daily Archives: April 15, 2015

Grand Spot 02

http://www.dailystandard.com/archive/2015-04-04/stories/26445/painting-the-town-for-easter

Another article with Brenda Robinson, painter of the Quilted Rock. This time she helped restore Big Bob, claimed to be the world’s largest handmade bass.

When the Griswolds were done painting, Robinson applied a final clear coat to protect Big Bob from the elements.
“I bet he’s good for another 50 years,” Griswold said.
The fish was built to advertise Celina and Grand Lake, with many Lake Festival queens riding on the float in the past. More recently members of the Celina Dolphin swim team have enjoyed a ride on the float during the Lake Festival parade.

History of Big Bob:
According to a 1976 Celina Lake Festival brochure, the current Big Bob is not Celina’s first whopper of a fish float.
Apparently, in the 1930s, a 30-foot-long fish float was built by Celina businessmen to advertise Grand Lake. The float appeared in numerous parades and events throughout Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
The float was to be a part of the famous Parade of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., but was destroyed when it was loaded for the parade and never reached its destination.
The disheveled fish then was put on a small island in Grand Lake off West Bank Road where it sat for many years as a tourist attraction, the brochure says.
– Betty Lawrence

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Oops!

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“Isn’t it clear? You must make a [“quilted”] fish sculpture. To match Waxy the Bird in nearby Greenhead. B[y]rd-Fish.”

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“One Pink” (Greenup collage #11).

I just took apart the sculpture of the red/green/blue birds seen in the above collage (Opus 19) to make room in my study for the new keyboards (Baby Chro). One replaces another in effect.

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Opus 19 in 1990 art exhibit

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Fish+Bass in Quay County, NM.

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Filed under Frank Park, Georgia, MAPS, New Mexico, Ohio, Whitehead Crossing

Grand Spot 01

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lake_St._Marys_State_Park

I believe the shallow pool of water at the lower end of Red Head may now be called The Grand or Grand Pool or something equivalent. Model: Grand Lake, Ohio, also very shallow. More on Grand Lake and its Mercer County soon enough. Thanks!

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Celina = Jupiter, Coldwater = Saturn, Neptune = Neptune (etc.)
Mercer County is our Solar System.

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Mercer County flag

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Quilted Rock near Celina

http://generationqmagazine.com/needle-gypsies-the-quilted-rock/

We stopped on the way back home to get a closer look and take pictures. I contacted Stoneco—actually a company called Shelly that acquired the Stoneco quarries some years ago—to ask about the origins of the rock. I was told the rock had been placed to mark the northwest corner of the property that housed Stoneco in that location, but it had been a magnet for graffiti. A local artist, named Brenda Robinson, offered to paint the rock in a quilt-like design in order to discourage the vandalism. And, apparently, it worked, as the Shelly representative had no knowledge of any further defacement.

And that’s all there was to it. Frankly, I was a wee bit disappointed. I was hoping for something that involved a jilted lover, a family feud, and a ghost that haunts the grinder thingy next to the rock. So, what do you think? Tell us what your story would be for the origin of The Quilted Rock. Maybe we can get Stoneco to go with one of ours instead.

No relation between the quite similarly colored Quilted Rock and the official Mercer County flag that I can tell. Story of the flag here:

http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/county-flags/mercer

The lighthouse signifies Grand Lake, the largest man-made lake in Ohio. Beams radiating from the lighthouse stand for all six Mercer County schools: red for St. Henry, orange for Coldwater, gold for Parkway, green for Celina, blue for Marion Local, and purple for Fort Recovery. The flag committee added one final touch to the design. The foundation of the lighthouse was modified to have fourteen stone blocks. Each block represents one of the townships.

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Red Head’s very shallow “Grand Pool”

But I wonder if a map like this could have possibly served as an inspiration for the colored Quilted Rock patterns.

Actually, I suppose it looks more like townships. More pondering to do here…

http://myhometownohio.blogspot.com/2009/09/temple-of-tolerance.html

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Filed under Frank Park, MAPS, Ohio, Whitehead Crossing