A small crowd gathered for the ribbon cutting of three new statues in Mesquite on Wednesday morning, Aug. 6.

MORF (the Mesquite Opportunities Fund) purchased the statues as part of a recent Main Street Nevada grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

The first two bronze statues were placed by the snack bar on the baseball field by the recreation center. They represent two youngsters, one male and one female, playing baseball.

The third statue was placed in front of the Mesquite Library. It depicts a young girl sitting on a bench, reading a book. She has a great place for selfies on either side of her.

Judi Sargent, branch manager of the library, cut the ribbon for the sculpture. She thanked Burke Pinto of Baja Imports for his donation of the bench and the dedicated City Parks and Recreation team for skillfully installing all three statues. Sargent said, “This statue beautifully symbolizes the spark of imagination, the beginning of countless journeys through reading and creativity.”

Grant facilitator and MORF member George Gault and Gerri Chasko, president of MORF, did the honors of cutting the ribbons at the ballpark. Gault thanked Sherri Davis from the GOED for helping bring this project to fruition. He thanked Nick Montoya, former Parks and Recreation director, and Randy Laub, the new director.

Chasko thanked Steve Dudrow for his help.

“He was instrumental in researching the statues and getting them here. Also, the Mesquite Public Art Committee for their input on the project.”

Dudrow said the sculptures were purchased from the Randolph Rose Collection in New York.