Monday, May 31, 1999
Patriotic sculpture coming to Edgewood, its creator's home
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
EDGEWOOD — An award-winning patriotic sculpture will return to the Northern Kentucky town where its late creator's family lives, just in time for Independence Day.
If all goes as planned, Edgewood officials will move the Ameristar — a three-dimensional red, white and blue concrete star weighing several tons — to Freedom Park within two to three weeks, City Administrator Lou Noll said Friday.
The city is paying to move the Ameristar from the Ohio State Fairgrounds and is paying any restoration costs associated with the move.
“It's a unique kind of thing, and we're happy to get it,” Mr. Noll said.
The Ameristar symbolizes the patriotic pride of creator Jack Reyer, a Edgewood advertising executive and artist, his widow, Ruth, said.
During the country's 1976 bicentennial observance, the sculpture was first runner-up in a nationwide contest seeking a U.S. symbol.
Mr. Reyer's 45-year-old widow keeps a stack of written testimonials from such luminaries as former President Ford and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, attesting to her husband's creativity.
“This star meant more to him than anything, except his three kids,” Mrs. Reyer said. “Most people think of Christmas or Thanksgiving or birthdays as their favorite (occasions). Not Jack. July 4 was his favorite holiday, and he would go all out for it.”
A year after their 1978 marriage, the Reyers moved from California to Northern Kentucky, where Mr. Reyer soon hung a 30-foot flag from the windows of the couple's two-bedroom Covington apartment.
“Jack was always doing things like that to show his patriotism,” Mrs. Reyer said. “Being so creative and patriotic, red, white and blue meant a lot to him.”
Mr. Reyer died of a brain aneurysm in 1995 after eight years of battling back from a heart attack, bypass surgery and a stroke.
“A year after he had his stroke, he was given the governor's award because of how well he fought back and continued to run a business,” Mrs. Reyer said. “While anyone else would just give up, he worked harder. He was the epitome of a proud American.”
Last fall, Mrs. Reyer approached Ohio State Fair officials about moving the borrowed sculpture to the city where her husband's friends and family live.
“I thought it would be kept in better shape, if it was in a community where people have a personal interest in it,” she said.
Mrs. Reyer also wanted the sculpture to be near the couple's children — Maria, 18; Celia, 16, and Jack, 12. “When they look at that, they see their daddy,” she said.
Edgewood officials plan to place the sculpture near a flagpole in Freedom Park. A walkway will connect the Ameristar and the flagpole to a yet-to-be-created memorial paying tribute to Edgewood's veterans of the armed forces.
“I see this sculpture as a landmark and a focal point for Edgewood for years to come,” Mrs. Reyer said.
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