Ridgecrest Elementary School pupils enjoyed a red, white and not-at-all blue day Wednesday as the children, patriotically spiffed up and looking proud, saw the culmination of a project begun several years ago.
The dedication Wednesday of a statue honoring Utah science giant Philo T. Farnsworth was the frosting on the cake for the Ridgecrest contingent.Several years ago, spurred by the fact that Utah has had only one statue in the national Capitol's Statuary Hall, while entitled to two, the pupils searched for and found a genuine Utah hero to round out the state's statue quota.
Wednesday, representatives of the school were part of the dedicatory program in which Farnsworth was lionized as a humble genius who brought television to the world. The children included pupils from grades two through six at Ridgecrest, 1800 E. 7200 South, and some who have moved on to local junior high schools since the project began.
About 40 pupils decorated the Capitol Rotunda where the dedication was held. They arrived early to take their places on a dais and nobly weathered about two hours of pomp and circumstance for the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Bruce Barnson, Ridgecrest principal during the period the pupils worked to promote the proj-ect, who has since transferred to Silver Mesa Elementary, was among the honorees. He described the process the children went through to sift through Utah's native sons for a worthy subject, persuade state leaders to support the notion and push for a fund drive to make the statue a reality.
The children, Barnson said, are products of "a great public-education system, great homes and great teachers."
"If Philo were here, he'd tell you to follow your dreams," Pem Farnsworth, the inventor's wife, told the children. She also was a guest of honor.
The pupils sang two songs appropriate to the occasion, "When a Man Has a Dream," and "This is Utah." Judy Christopherson directed and Nancy Boyer was their accompanist.
Another nicety with a Utah touch, a bouquet of flowers featuring Utah sego lilies, decorated the podium. A Marine string trio included "Utah, We Love Thee" among its numbers.
Although the pupils started out as models of decorum, hands folded in their laps, many of the children began to feel the effects as the program went its usual adult course. They had already been in place for an hour before state and national dignitaries lined up for the program.
The excitement of a plane trip to the nation's capital, the change in routine and the effort to be successful ambassadors of their school and their state took a minor toll.
One little fellow nodded and swayed a little and ultimately drooped his head over the back of his chair and let nature take its course.
But when the satin drape came off the larger-than-lifesize statue, the work of James Avati, the pupils were alert and ready to lead the applause as a fitting climax to the project they had started.