4th of July, 1984
A Star-Spangled Day
In Our Family's History...
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| Frederick Leo Harris, July 4, 1984 UNCLE FRED AND THE
TORCH OF MISS LIBERTY In memory of Frederick Leo Harris
Uncle Fred was
an unassuming kind of guy— a master crane
operator who ran a long-necked
crane for Canger, Inc. He never boasted
about it didn’t speak of
the special skills required or dangers or
the scope of projects he
was working on
nor did we even think to ask except perhaps to inquire, conversationally about where he was working It could have been Jersey or New York or sometimes Pennsylvania He just put on his work clothes each morning put in his eight hours, and came home to their three room apartment in Paterson, every night for dinner
On the 4th
of July in 1984 Uncle Fred was
the engineer chosen to remove
the original torch from the hand of
Lady Liberty
That particular Independence Day marked the start of restorations on the Statue of Liberty, with completion targeted for her 100th birthday, in 1986
I don’t recall
our uncle telling us about it in
advance. If he had we undoubtedly
would’ve been there with our young
children to witness his
feat
He probably dressed for work that morning just like every other day had his coffee, drove into the city got himself to Liberty Island and quietly set about doing exactly what a master crane operator would be expected to do
There was a
special ceremony that
Independence Day with pomp and
circumstance a brass band and
dignitaries—
and in the cab of the tall crane hunched over the controls sat our Uncle Fred, confidently doing what needed to be done to expertly bring down the old torch
The honor
bestowed upon him was completely
lost on our Aunt Carol— She was at home
and unhappy because he had
to work on the holiday and therefore
they had to miss out on normal 4th
of July festivities like a parade or
a cook-out or fireworks When a news
reporter called to ask her some
questions she let him know
exactly how she felt and what she
said was directly quoted in the newspaper
the following day
It wasn’t until she saw a picture of him standing next to the old torch on the front page of the Paterson News that she realized the illustrious way he spent the 4th. Suddenly she became overcome with pride and fussed over him to no end even though, I’m certain, Uncle Fred could easily have done without anybody fussing over him, at all
The original
torch is on permanent display in the base of
the Statue of Liberty with a plaque
telling of its removal and the statue’s
restoration that followed It includes no
mention of our uncle’s name which, surely,
would not have bothered him
but we know, and we’re proud
and this poem is written to keep that special memory of him alive
Maude Carolan Pych Happy Birthday, America! The above poem appears in my memoir in poetry, "Wonderhoods"  For ordering information visit my website at www.maudecarolanpych.net or inquire via email to maudecpych@gmail.com. |
