FAMILY … Jenny holds a horse that was painted by her granddaughter.
By: John L. Winright
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Jenny Baker, chairman of the Lake Seneca Beautification Landscaping Committee loves the community she lives in and is looking for ways to improve the maintenance of the park area along with other project ideas.
She and her husband Gary moved into the area approximately 17 years ago from Delta, Ohio. Jenny loves to spend time outside. She has spent a lot of time in the playground area touching up some of the equipment now and then.
One of the things that struck her eye was the condition of the eight horses there and that they needed painted. She had just painted them a year ago, but they already looked like they needed it again.
She asked around about if they should be sandblasted and saw that they were not rusty and found out that they were made of a cast aluminum.
Jenny also saw a stamp on each horse that said Litchfield, Michigan by a company named GT, “Game Time”. She talked to the committee about getting them sandblasted and they all agreed that was the route they should go.
Jenny started to think about who could do that for them and her granddaughter came to mind right away because she is a very accomplished artist.
When Jenny contacted her, she immediately responded by saying yes, she would like to do one. Understanding that her granddaughter was busy with college, Jenny knew she couldn’t expect her to do all eight but was thrilled to see what she could do with one and how it would turn out.
She did one completely, while staying with her grandparents for four days over Christmas. The result was amazing.
To move on with the project they hired a company to sandblast the remaining seven horses. Then it was suggested to them that paint on the horses would really hold up better if they were powder coated.
The only problem being this process would cost a lot more. This became a much talked about subject in the community. Several families had children over a period of many years that had played on these horses, so they had precious memories from the past.
Jenny got to thinking, ‘why not ask them if they would like to donate towards the powder coating’ and in doing so, they could adopt and name a horse.
Many of these families had given names to the horses in the past. One example is a pink horse that was given the name “Cotton Candy.” Each horse in the collection will be a different color.
The committee was ready to provide the paint for the painters, who were all local, consisting of five teenagers and three adults. All these folks are artists in their own way.
Jenny did contact all the high school art departments in the surrounding area about doing a horse and the local North Central department said yes, they would do one! Thus, two out of the eight horses have been completed.
This is just the beginning of several ideas that Jenny and the committee are discussing to keep improving landscaping and conserving the Lake Seneca Community and the park.
The painters and their families have been invited to a potluck at the Lake Seneca Lodge on February 19th at 6 pm, for the unveiling of all the horses in their rejuvenated appearance.
