Fri, Nov 21 2008
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Published May 16, 2008 11:42 pm - Statue honors late Yaffe By Elizabeth Ridenour Assistant City Editor A new statue placed in Spaulding Park on Friday continues the legacy of Robert N. "Bob" Yaffe.
The bronze piece, entitled “Past and Present, Future Bound,” was financed in memory of Yaffe by his widow, Donna Yaffe, and created by Denise Rinkovsky, 53, of Tulsa. “It’s beautiful,” said Mark Wilkerson, director of Muskogee Parks and Recreation. “It’s probably 9 feet tall — 10 feet, counting the pedestal.” Bob Yaffe, who died in 2006 at the age of 72, was a Muskogee businessman who owned Yaffe Iron & Metal Co., and Yaffe Companies Inc. The 1951 Muskogee Central High School graduate was committed to Muskogee and Spaulding Park. So committed that he placed more than $1 million in a trust fund so that the interest earned could be used to upgrade and maintain Spaulding Park, a park where Yaffe learned how to swim and play tennis. Rinkovsky said she felt fortunate to be involved in the project, which began in 2006 as a Centennial project with the help of Mayor Wren Stratton. “I met with Wren and took a walk and strolled through the park,” Rinkovsky said. “It struck me how to fit that composition together. The location is wonderful.” The statue was placed so that anyone passing the park on East Okmulgee Avenue will see it. “It’s a real natural setting,” Wilkerson said. “It looks as if it belongs there.” A plaque will be placed on the statue with all of the pertinent information, and it will be highlighted at night with lighting pointed downward from the tree above it. The statue depicts a man with a girl on a swing. “It’s set beneath a tree so it looks like she’s swinging from the tree,” Wilkerson said. Because the piece is a Centennial piece, the girl is dressed in clothing that would have been worn in 1907. But, the man is wearing clothing that would be worn by a man in 2007. “He’s kind of ‘pushing’ her into the future,” Rinkovsky said. “I created the man with Yaffe in mind — very shy but very strong — that’s how I imagined him.” 
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