[ad_1]
WINTER PARK, Florida >> A little rain couldn’t stop it from being a wonderful day at Rollins College in Florida when school officials unveiled a sculpture in honor of alumnus and beloved children’s television host, Mister Rogers.
Rollins President Grant Cornwell and others held umbrellas during Thursday’s private ceremony as they pulled back a curtain on the bronze rendering of Rogers in his iconic sweater and tennis shoes, a work called “A Beautiful Day for a Neighbor.”
“This inspirational sculpture will be a lasting reminder of the ideals and values ​​Mister Rogers exemplified as he set out to make the world a better place,” Cornwell said during the ceremony at the private Liberal Arts College in Winter Park, northeast of Orlando.
Years before the world met him as Mister Rogers, Fred McFeely Rogers moved to Rollins College in 1948 and graduated from the school in 1951. He studied musical composition and was president of his brotherhood and chairman of the committee on interfaith and ethnic relations. At school he also met his future wife. In 1974 he received an honorary doctorate from the school.
Rogers was best known for writing and starring 912 episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which ran on public television from 1968 to 2001. He died in 2003. In recent years he has also been the subject of a popular documentary, starring Tom Hanks.
The 360 ​​degree sculpture was designed by Paul Day, a British artist known for his public monuments. The bronze casting is over 2 feet tall and weighs over 3,000 pounds. It shows Rogers surrounded by children, hand puppets from his show, lyrics from the show’s theme song, and the show’s Neighborhood Trolley.
“My hope is that this piece will bring joy and inspiration to many people, just as’ Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ‘has done for generations,” said Day.
The sculpture will be part of the school’s Mister Rogers Walking Tour.
[ad_2]
