|
Carver Returns To Save Cheeseman |
|
|
|
Thursday, 23 July 2009 |
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
WAPAKONETA — Cheese artist Sarah Kaufmann says Monday was more interesting of a day than she had in a while.
The artist who last week constructed an 8-foot tall moonman sculpture out of cheddar cheese for the moon landing’s 40th anniversary was in West Chester Monday morning when she heard the faint beeping of her cell phone. A message from Auglaize County Historical Society Administrator Rachel Barber spoke of an emergency.
“She told me the astronaut had fallen over in the museum and they needed my help,” Kaufmann said. “She wanted to know what could be done.”
During Sunday night, the air conditioning in the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum had automatically increased several degrees making the cheesy creation greasy. The top two 400-pound sections of the statue had slipped off their supporting rods and hit the floor.
Without thinking twice, Kaufmann jumped into her car and drove the 90 minutes north to the museum. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and first steps on the moon, admission was to be free at the museum and people wanted to see the 8-foot tall astronaut. Armstrong Air & Space Museum Association member Greg Myers was one of the first to arrive at the museum to save the statue. Myers and two men from the NASA Glenn Research Center wrapped the blocks with paper towels and covered the blocks with bags of ice to chill the sweating cheddar. The three men then pulled the blocks to the maintenance room at the museum.
“I told the guys I felt kind of like an ancient Egyptian building the pyramids with us pulling these 400 pound blocks,” Myers said. “But we pulled them to the shop where we hoped they could be reassembled.”
Kaufmann got to the museum at 11:50 a.m. — more than two hours after Barber’s voicemail. Once she arrived and surveyed the damage, Kaufmann said things did not look too bad. The statue’s fall had dinged it up a bit and severed its knee, but everything seemed fixable.
A forklift was brought in to raise the blocks back up and meticulously place them back together. Kaufmann finished the patchwork on the museum floor in front of the hundreds who snaked by her as they toured the museum. Kaufmann said she told the museum-goers the cheese astronaut had a “Night at the Museum” moment.
“I told the kids that our astronaut came alive last night and went for a walk and checked out the exhibits,” Kaufmann said. “Then on his way back to his place, he blew out his knee and fell down.”
By 1:15 p.m., Kaufmann said the sculpture was back on the floor and looking as good as new.
On Wednesday, Myers said the incident likely ended up being a positive for the museum staff.
“I was so impressed with how Sarah handled the visitors,” Myers said. “I told (Museum Director) Becky (Macwhinney) maybe it was meant to happen, because it really enhanced the experience for the visitors.”
Kaufmann said it was not only her passion, but her desire to do things right is what drove her back to Wapakoneta.
“A lot of people were coming to see it that day, and how could I let them down,” Kaufmann said.
“I would have hated to see the whole event ruined by it not being seen.” |
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 September 2009 )
|
