Mountain View Lodge #244 is very fortunate to be located on the main street of downtown Mountain View, Castro Street, where we put together different windows displays each month. Our July display is this month dedicated to the Statue of Liberty.
Creating the window was slightly challenging this month, – we had to use a lot of spray paint to match the green of the statue and our mannequin Eleanor kept dropping her torch! Taking a picture of the window is often difficult due the glare in the window so we will show you some of the elements this month.
The statue was designed in France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American War of Independence and to acknowledge the emancipation of slaves following the American Civil War. The chains on the feet of the statue symbolize freedom from oppression and a movement towards liberty.
The tablet, held in the right hand of the statue, commemorates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776. The original name of the statue was “Liberty Enlightening the World”.
The torch represents enlightenment, guiding the way to freedom and representing the statue’s official name, “Liberty Enlightening the World”.
As part of our window display, we discussed how the statue, originally a golden copper color, is now green. Of course, the answer is Chemistry!
We also invited passing traffic to take a virtual tour of the statue using their smart phones.
You can also take a panoramic tour at
https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/photosmultimedia/hdp-virtualtour.htm
— In F, L and T,
Sinéad and Ria Toolis