Press Releases
Butter Sculpture Heralds Ben Franklin and the Liberty Bell
PHILADELPHIA (January 4, 2007) – Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell have churned out in Harrisburg for the 91st Pennsylvania Farm Show. A buttery likeness of the two Philadelphia icons was unveiled today and will be displayed in the Main Hall near the Maclay Street lobby through Jan. 13.
Crafted from 800 pounds of butter donated by the Land O’Lakes plant in Carlisle, this year’s sculpture honors two of Philadelphia’s most prominent residents. Sculptor Jim Victor of Conshohocken, who has carved himself a niche using butter, chocolate and cheese as his mediums, created this year’s sculpture. Victor began crafting the design in mid-December and spent approximately 10 days creating this tribute to Pennsylvania’s history.
“As Philadelphia winds down Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday celebration, it’s only fitting that Pennsylvania’s dairy farmers honor the gentleman who studied electricity and noted a key principle of refrigeration, elements very important to the dairy industry,” said Gordon Hoover, a Land O’Lakes dairy farmer and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association board of directors. “Each sector of the dairy industry – from on-farm cooling tanks to dairy plant cold storage units and refrigerated store displays – uses technology built on Mr. Franklin’s studies to supply ice cold, nutritious milk.”
Franklin was born on Boston’s Milk Street in 1706 and fled to Philadelphia at the age of 17. One of this country’s most famous founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin is responsible for introducing to the United States the public library, fire houses, bifocals and lightning rods.
The Liberty Bell is one of the most prominent symbols associated with the American Revolution. Its most famous ringing on July 8, 1776, summoned Philadelphia residents to the reading of the Declaration of Independence, which was drafted and edited by Franklin.
Those attending today’s butter sculpture unveiling will enjoy a fitting tribute with music presented by an element of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, under the direction of Master Sergeant Russell Smith. Invited guests include Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis C Wolff, Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Sarah Caldwell, and Gordon Hoover representing Land O’Lakes.
Additional guests participating today include Dr. Norma Mateer, Steelton Highspire School District superintendent, and Nadia Adawi, president of Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel.
At the close of the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Jan. 13, the buttery likenesses of Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell will make a return trip to the city of brotherly love where they will become fuel for the future. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Eastern Regional Research Center, Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel currently operates a pilot plant in north Philadelphia and has developed innovative technology for conversion of waste greases into high quality biodiesel.
The butter sculpture is sponsored annually by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program on behalf of the Commonwealth’s dairy farmers. Funded by dairy farmers, the promotion organizations work to increase dairy product demand through advertising, communications and nutrition education programs. For more information, visit www.dairyspot.com.