Strut With Style
		Flightless cranes roost in warehouse as they await their parade KEARNEY - While their flesh-and-blood counterparts begin congregating on the Platte River, the fiberglass birds for Cranes on Parade are flocking to a Kearney warehouse. "Twenty are all done and clear-coated and in storage," Pat Jones, an organizer for the event, said. An effort to raise money for the Kearney Rotary clubs, Cranes on Parade is a public art event. Sponsors will display 6-foot fiberglass crane sculptures, decorated by area artists, throughout Kearney from March 10 to Oct. 11. The sculptures will be sold at an auction on Oct. 11. Jones said 31 cranes are
Hub photo by Brad Norton Some of the completed Cranes On Parade projects are stored awaiting their debut at the Rowe Sanctuary March 1.
By JAN THOMPSON Hub Staff Writer

completed or in production. She's still finding sponsors for some cranes and has one sponsor to match with a crane, but the project isn't going to grow much larger.

"I think we're going to stop it at 32," she said, because organizers had 32 fiberglass sculptures made from the original by Kearney artist Martha Pettigrew.

Also, pictures of all the cranes must be done by mid-March for a book that will be released in September, before the auction.

Jones said if the final crane isn't matched with a sponsor, it could be used in another way. One idea may be to make it a public art project at the annual Art in the Park event.

On Feb. 25, organizers will ask the Kearney City Council for permission to place some cranes in public areas, such as parks and walking trails. Jones said those would be cranes sponsored by businesses that don't have good locations to display the birds.

The cranes will be displayed for the first time Feb. 28 at Rowe Sanctuary at an invitational "sneak preview" for program sponsors, artists and donors for Rowe's new nature center. The public unveiling will be at 3:30 p.m. March 1 at Rowe Sanctuary.

From March 3 to March 10, Jones said, about 20 birds will be displayed at the State Capitol in Lincoln as part of an exhibit that also will include crane-related items from other Nebraska towns on the sandhill crane migration route. The crane sculptures will be placed at sponsoring businesses and other locations around Kearney after that exhibit, Jones said.

Maps will be available for "crane hunts," with a contest for people who want to spot all the cranes.

Jones said she doesn't know how much money has been raised for the Rotary clubs so far through Cranes on Parade, and that figure won't be known until after the auction.
e-mail to: jan.thompson@kearneyhub.com