Celebration Arrives
Despite very tight timing from the time that the sculpture arrived via train and the cement pedestal constructed to Gardner’s specification, the Gardner family succeeded to have the sculpture installed with mere hours to spare before the slated day — Grandparents Day — for the official unveiling. There, Marlene Sturm, PTA President, presented Norman Gardner with a certificate of appreciation, before a crowd of parents, grandparents, students and administrators, including Gerry Elgarten, the school principal. After this ceremony, the school enjoyed a reception inside the gate, hosted by the Gardner-Tiemann family.
Norman Gardner with his daughter, Valerie Gardner, who was the moving force behind the Hausner Day School sculpture project. When the ability to raise funds for the project from members of the community was blocked by the school administration, Valerie and her husband, Jonathan Tiemann, stepped up to fund the project personally. The sculpture, which was never formally donated to the school, remains in the Gardner-Tiemann collection but is on semi-permanent loan to the school. The school has the right to continue to keep the sculpture, so long as it remains installed on its base in front of the school. In the event that the school no longer wishes to keep the sculpture or to display it in public at the school entrance, possession of the sculpture will revent back to the Gardner-Tiemann Family. The school has no right to sell, store or transfer the sculpture to any third party. Furthermore, the school may only move the sculpture in the event that the school moves locations or moves the location of its front entrance and then only with the permission of the Gardner family.