Saturday, November 19, 2011

Reunion

We witnessed a sweet reunion at Afton Station today. Velida Palmer and her husband drove up from Tulsa to visit us and, more importantly, to visit Tripper! Velida is the artist who took a lump of fiberglass about 8 years ago and turned it into our beloved Route 66 penguin. Tripper has been photographed by thousands of tourists from all over the world since I bought him from the zoo all those many years ago. He's lived at Afton Station for several years, and before that he spent some time "on loan" to Route 66 Harley-Davidson in Tulsa. Since Velida last saw him, he's acquired a wheeled platform which allows him to be moved around from place to place. Velida was happy to see Tripper, and I know Tripper was thrilled by the visit. So was I. More of Velida's beautiful artwork can be seen at www.velidapalmer.com. Check it out!
Robin, Afton Station's own Jewelry-Artist-In-Residence, has created some lovely bracelets made from our Afton Station pressed pennies. She has them in three sizes: Small for $6, Medium for $7, and Large for $8. They're available immediately at Afton Station. Come 'n get 'em!

The picture isn't the greatest, but the bracelets are nice!


Other visitors came in today, making it not nearly as boring a day as Ron M. and I had expected when we drove to Afton on a gloomy and very windy day. We had visits from 7 folks, from Joplin MO, Wagoner OK, Tulsa OK, and Bentonville, AR.


I received some nice photos of last weekend's monument dedication from photographer Rick Thompson. Tomorrow, I'll sort them out and publish a few here. Thanks, Rick!

3 comments:

Beth said...

I look forward to seeing him in person. He's a very handsome fellow!

Laurel said...

Beth,
Tripper can sense a penguin appreciator, and he already has a big hug waiting for you when you are finally able to visit Afton Station.

Rick T said...

Laurel, I think that the photo of the bracelet made of smashed pennies is an excellent shot!! I have a little stack of others from around the country set aside to bring you the next time I see you. I simply love this photo...