BUCKHANNON – The Buckhannon Consolidated Public Works Board is considering fabricating a new city “Welcome” sign out of the World Association of Marching Show Bands music notes statue.
During its monthly meeting Dec. 7, 2023, the Consolidated Board discussed what to do with the music notes statue that was on display during the opening ceremony for the 2023 World Association of Marching Show Bands Championship, which took place July 17-24, 2023, in Buckhannon.
The board first considered placing it in Jawbone Park, but city Director of Public Works Jerry Arnold said he would prefer not to place anything else in that park because fixtures are often difficult to move, and Jawbone Park has become the city’s designated location for gatherings and events, such as Festival Fridays.
Arnold instead suggested placing the statue in the new green space on Madison Street across from Jawbone Park.
However, Mayor Robbie Skinner proposed converting the statue into a new “Welcome to Buckhannon” sign.
“I thought we could turn it into a “Welcome to Buckhannon” sign with three flag poles – one that’s the tallest for the American flag, the state flag and the city flag,” Skinner said. “It could say, ‘Welcome to the City of Buckhannon, home of West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival,’ and the bottom could say, ‘host of the 2023 World Association of Marching Show Bands Championship.’”
Skinner suggested placing the sign by Sheetz on Route 20, right next to the power grid. The mayor said he has considered creating a new sign, but the idea has been on the back burner for a while now.
“I do feel like that’s something that’s unique; nobody else can say they hosted WAMSB in 2023, and I think we can make it really nice,” Skinner said.
“The notes are black, so we could put gold lettering or white, crisp lettering saying, ‘Host city of the 2023 World Association Marching Show Bands competition,’ where everybody can see it and somewhere up above, it could say ‘Welcome to the city of Buckhannon,’ and I think we should also highlight what else we’re known for, without it being too busy,” he added.
Arnold also made a few design suggestions, including adding the city seal.
“We could place the ‘Welcome to Buckhannon’ above the notes, and then the city seal could be in the middle of the notes – I think that would look really nice,” Arnold said.
Consolidated Board member Nancy Shobe asked Arnold to fabricate a drawing of the sign so board members could consider it at a future meeting. The next Consolidated Public Works Board meeting is set for 7:30 a.m. Jan. 25 at City Hall.
