Bud’s Bench, a functional artwork created by local artist Paul Reimer, will be a public bench mounted on the 11th Avenue front lawn of the Studio Stage Door heritage building with room for at least two seated adults.

The finished structure will be a galvanized grey with a contrasting black life-sized outline representation of Bud playing his trombone.

Funding of the Bud’s Bench project, to honour volunteers of the past, present, and future, is off to a galloping start.

Peter Schalk, President of the Cranbrook Community Theatre Society, whose members are stewards of the city-owned Studio Stage Door, represented the project’s partners on February 15 to confirm the Cranbrook Rotary Club’s donation of $5,000.

“The Cranbrook Rotary Club is proud to support this bench that recognizes the hundreds of volunteers we have in our city, with a special tribute to Bud Abbott who volunteered with so many organizations. Bud was a Rotarian for 60 years and is a great example of the volunteer mindset and contribution that is important to our lifestyle,” proclaimed Leanne Jensen, President of the Cranbrook Rotary Club.

The organizations behind getting this extraordinary volunteer tribute rolling are the Cranbrook Community Theatre Society, Cranbrook & District Arts Council, Key City Theatre, Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, Regional District of East Kootenay, Rotary Club of Cranbrook and the City of Cranbrook.

Lead image: Peter Schalk, President, Cranbrook Community Theatre Society accepts a cheque to support the Bud’s Bench project from Leanne Jensen, President, Cranbrook Rotary Club, in front of the Studio Stage Door, Cranbrook on February 15. Images submitted

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