Scary Lucy

Do you love Lucille Ball, the late actress and comedian?  Although she passed away in 1989, she is still remembered, and loved, by millions all around the world.

Here's just a small sample of her talent.  It involves chocolate, so what is there not to love?

Ms. Ball was born in Jamestown, New York and grew up in a nearby community called Celeron.  Her childhood was quite difficult but she persevered.   She is buried in Celeron (and yes, I've been to her grave) but today I wanted to show you a couple of statues that were erected in Celeron to honor her.

The town had good intentions - they wanted to honor their native daughter.  But the statue was considered so ugly (and even scary) that it became known as "Scary Lucy". A campaign was launched to replace the statue with a prettier one, which it was.  Now the "ugly" statue has become a tourist attraction, and the sculptor actually gave up sculpting (for reasons perhaps unrelated to the backlash).

It was replaced by this statue (sculpted by a woman, by the way) which has received lots more positive comments.  People call it "Lovely Lucy".

Both of these sculptures are close to each other. Here's how to find them.

Do you think Scary Lucy is scary?

Do you remember Lucille Ball?