Last August, Larry Schmidt and daughters Madeleine Stapel and Meredith Hudak were disappointed that their dedication ceremony for a sculpture to honor Jennifer A. Schmidt had to take place without the sculpture. The delay was blamed on Supply Chain problems from across the Pacific, but there was hope it would arrive by October.
Unfortunarely, Schmidt Family disappointment continued for months, and grew when the wrong piece was sent and had to be returned. The chosen sculpture finally arrived and was installed last week, the first week of January 2023. The dedication plaque had already been installed nearby. [The photos below were all taken on January 8, 2023. Clique on an image for a larger version.]
Seeing the real thing (above) made me appreciate why Larry was disappointed with the first sculpture
. Two sculpted children on the bench read a book together, in a scene that would surely have made Jennifer Schimdt smile. Their bench completes a scene started last summer with the installation of two handsome benches for visitors, also donated by the Schmidt family.
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They are situated on the terraced lawn behind 32 Washington Avenue, the home of the Schenectady County Historical Society, in the Schenectady Stockade. It has long been one of my favorite spots to view and photograph in the soft light before sunset. With waterside reeds (phragmites) in the background, along the Binnekill (Creek), the young readers beckon neighbors and visitors to stop by.
- share this posting with this short URL: tinyurl.com/SculptureForJennifer
Jennifer’s contagious smile, and her long dedication to literature, education, and her Stockade neighborhood (where she lived for almost half a century, and raised her children), can be felt on the Society’s lawn. Many thanks to the Schmidt family, Jennifer’s inspiration, Mary Zawicki and the SCHS, for making the scene possible. I hope you will stop by soon to feel the serenity.
- Read Larry Schmidt’s tribute to Jennifer and her life in the Stockade on page 6 of the December 2021 Stockade Spy.
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suns along the Mohawk 
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