Artist steps in to help restore beloved holiday attraction
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Nov. 13, 2023) – Another local artist is helping the New Philadelphia Rotary restore the Story Book Lane nursery rhyme display.
GsWorx owner Greg Scott has taken over for Mark Watson, who passed away last October after two decades of replicating a scene or two at a time on aluminum panels. Project Chairman Tom Police says Greg is a tremendous artist with a great process.
“He does a sketch of the display, keeping it true to the original, and then he redraws it on his computer, colors it in, and then he has it printed on heavy-duty vinyl, which is adhered to the aluminum panels. So the nice thing is in the future if we ever need to rebuild one because of some damage to it, he can actually print one out and produce it in just a few days.”
The method is so efficient that he’s completed five scenes since coming aboard and was finishing another one last week.
“We’ve got three more to do next year and then we have a missing one that was never restored that we’re going to completely do over, and it’ll be a surprise when we get that one out next year.”
Police installed mechanical components to add motion to the restored pieces that will go up at Tuscora Park with the rest of the display the week after Thanksgiving.
The club is selling three-year listings on the ‘Friends of Story Book Lane’ cards at the end of the display for $100 each to help with restoration and maintenance costs. The form to download and return with your payment is on the club’s website, newphiladelphiarotary.com, or call Police at 330-204-6093.