Date in History: 1970

The distinctive orange sculpture located by the entrance to the Fireside Dinner Theater in Fort Atkinson was unveiled in the summer of 1970. Designed by Fort Atkinson art teacher Bob Hase and built by Ferdinand Kutz, the unusual sculpture is comprised of 70 pieces of steel metal that are attached to a four-legged steel skeleton. At the time, its height of 35’ made it the tallest sculpture in Wisconsin.

The sculpture’s name “Flame of Friendship in a Troubled World,” certainly reflected the 1970 time period when almost every issue of the Jefferson County Union led with the news concerning Vietnam.

This historic document aired on the radio as an Historic Minute on 09/13/2004.

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