Remembering JFK - Bronze Statue Unveiled (VIDEO)

HYANNIS - Friday was a day for reflection and remembering. In the late afternoon, perhaps as many as 1000 dedicated souls braved the heat and humidity of the hottest day so far this year to honor the memory of our most famous citizen, President John F. Kennedy.  The crowd was a diverse assembly of the very young, the very old, and every age group in between.   

I arrived at the John F.  Kennedy Hyannis Museum at 397 Main Street about 90 minutes ahead of the scheduled events.  I arrived early enough to watch four members of Boy Scout Troop 54 from Centerville practice their ceremonial duties for the day under the direction of the Barnstable Sheriff’s Department Color Guard.

The scouts were to be responsible for raising the colors at the unveiling ceremony of the new bronze statue of John F. Kennedy already standing tall, but hidden from view by a large white cloth.  The big day was finally here. We would at last see the bronze statue, already made famous through many long years of public planning, controversy, design changes, and fund raising travails.  

When I walked over to the Village Green, The Barnstable High School Band was already playing wonderfully on the stage.  Unfortunately, problems with the sound system drowned out part of their performance with highly amplified thunderous rumbling sounds reminiscent of a threatening thunderstorm.

Senator Ted Kennedy had taken his seat on the stage joining Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray, State Senator Robert O’Leary, State Rep. Demetrius Atsalis, and Town Manager John Klimm among other local and not so local dignitaries.  

The sound system problems finally cleared up and the first part of the ceremonies began as scheduled at 5:45 pm. Color Guards from the Barnstable Police Department and Hyannis Fire District, dressed in parade uniforms moved into position to the left of the stage and presented their colors as the National Anthem was sung.   The four Boy Scouts representing Troop 54 stood to the right of the stage with the Sheriff’s Color Guard. All remained standing, seemingly motionless for the duration of the Village Green ceremonies lasting well over an hour.

 

Ted Kennedy goes over his notes before addressing the crowd. JFK Statue Chairman Louis Cataldo is on the right.

At this point, I feel the need to commend the stamina and dedication of all the Color Guards.   It was 90 degrees and humid and I was positioned near the Barnstable Police Color Guard - Close enough to see the whites of their eyes as they say.   Although beads of sweat formed on their faces, they never flinched, squirmed, or moved. They all must have been extremely uncomfortable in those hot uniforms yet the Color Guards all displayed amazing discipline and control.  

The John F. Kennedy Statue Project Committee Chairman Lou Cataldo served as emcee introducing speaker after speaker and each relating their own personal stories about John Kennedy from the stage. Congressman William Delahunt, running a little behind schedule, arrived a few minutes into the ceremonies and quietly slipped onto the stage and sat in the background.   Soon he was behind the microphone telling about his own encounter with John Kennedy when he and the late Ron Brown ran into John Kennedy at a Vermont airport. He called it his "Wow Moment".

Listening to their reflections, I started thinking of my own occasional encounters with President Kennedy on the waters off Hyannis so many years ago, JFK on his father’s yacht, Marlin, or sailing his Wiano Senior Victura and me on my own little boat.   We were just ships passing on the sound with the obligatory wave under the watchful eyes of the Coast Guard escort. Almost every Friday during the summer, two Marine helicopters would fly overhead and land on the front lawn of the Kennedy compound bringing the President in for the weekend.   The name Hyannis became a household word around the world, and a major tourist destination was born almost overnight. Hyannis was changed forever.

Now it was Senator Kennedy's turn to address the crowd. He looked tired and stiff as he mounted the stage. Perhaps he had just flown in from Washington.   He sat in the front row of chairs on the stage patiently going over his notes in the hot sun, listening, and waiting, for his own turn at the microphone.

Any initial appearance of being tired disappeared the moment he started to address the crowd however. His comments reflected on the past, and how his brother’s life was influenced by life in Hyannis Port, and he expressed optimism for the future.   Graciously, he thanked all who made the day possible remembering many by name. It was plain to see why he has been such an effective and successful senator.   

Shortly after Senator Kennedy concluded his remarks at the Village Green, the crowd was led to the front of the JFK Hyannis Museum to the sound of bag pipes expertly provided by a kilted Katie White and Lt. David Cameron of the Barnstable Police Department.

Upon arrival, the Boy Scouts from Troop 54 raised the American flag to the top of the mast in front of the Museum.   This particular flag, we were told, had flown over the Nations Capitol in Washington.  

The moment everyone was waiting for had finally arrived. A short speech was delivered by David Lewis the sculptor of the new, soon to be unveiled, bronze JFK statue. Upon concluding his remarks the sculptor grabbed a long pole with a hook on one end and walked to the left side of his statue.

With one swift movement, he whisked away the white shroud that had been shielding this masterpiece from view. The statue was finally revealed.  The cheers of an admiring crowd expressed their approval.  This statue is an amazing work of art, an appropriate monument standing tall in front of the museum that honors our fallen son, brother, friend and neighbor,

His bronze feet placed into a sample of the very sand JFK used to walk upon in Hyannis Port so many years ago.  Every detail was considered, and the bed of sand is even complete with eel grass and shoreline vegetation all relocated to the front of the museum on Main street Hyannis for everyone to enjoy, remember, and learn.  

Thank you John Kennedy – Thanks for all you have done for all of us!     

“I always go to Hyannis Port to be revived,
to know again the power of the sea and the master
who rules over it and all of us.”
- John F. Kennedy