Gifts for Real Rosies
Statue replicas given to local legends
Submitted photos Rosie the Riveter and Emma Scott Garden Club member Virginia Cassells, 97, holds her mini-Rosie statue alongside, from left, Julia Cassells, Bobbi Trimboli and June Swanhart. From left in the back row are ESGC President Linda Shomo and ESGC member Ashton White.
From left, Ruth Helper, 99, and her granddaughter Karen Helper Shreve enjoy a moment together while taking a look at a mini-statue of Rosie the Riveter.
Submitted photos Rosie the Riveter and Emma Scott Garden Club member Virginia Cassells, 97, holds her mini-Rosie statue alongside, from left, Julia Cassells, Bobbi Trimboli and June Swanhart. From left in the back row are ESGC President Linda Shomo and ESGC member Ashton White.
From left, Ruth Helper, 99, and her granddaughter Karen Helper Shreve enjoy a moment together while taking a look at a mini-statue of Rosie the Riveter.
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ELKINS -- Two local real-life Rosie the Riveters were presented very special Christmas gifts this year.
The Emma Scott Garden Club recently unveiled a replica of a Rosie the Riveter statue that will soon be placed in Elkins to memorialize the valuable work of women during World War II.
"The mission of Emma Scott Garden Club is to install the 8-foot statue and add the names of all Rosies that can be found from West Virginia," ESGC President Linda Shomo told The Inter-Mountain. "There will be hidden clues of Rosie's history throughout the statue and we want to add a garden around it to beautify and educate."
The replica was taken to a Randolph County Commission meeting in November, where it was passed around for those in attendance to observe. Soon thereafter, the ESGC decided to purchase two more replica statues and give them to two local Rosies as Christmas gifts.
Virginia Cassells and Ruth Hepler were joined by family and friends when ESGC members presented the two women with their replica statues. Both are long-time members of the Garden Club and both served in different capacities as Rosies during the war.
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of WWII that represents the women who worked in factories and shipyards during the war. Any woman who received pay for any essential work during WWII is considered a Rosie.
Cassells, who is 97 years old, served as a teacher at the young age of 17 during WWII. Many teachers left the profession to join the war effort, which resulted in many schools being short-handed without educators. While finishing high school, Cassells took a course that allowed her to begin teaching just after she finished high school. She taught students in second through eighth grades.
Hepler, meanwhile, worked in a factory in Waynesboro, Virginia during WWII. The factory produced nylon and rayon, that was used to make parachutes for the military. Hepler is 99 years old.
The replicas are scaled-down representations of the 8-foot Rosie the Riveter statue that will feature the names of Rosies from across West Virginia. The projected location for the statue is next to the Elkins All-Veterans Memorial in the planned Elkins Veterans Memorial Park.
The statue is being designed by Big Statues out of Provo, Utah. The cost for the statue is $67,000. The ESGC has taken on the project and has raised most of the money for the statue. The Randolph County Commission provided $35,000 for the project last year.
The garden club is currently collecting names of Rosies from West Virginia that will be engraved into the base of the statue. Those wishing to submit a name are asked to contact Shomo by email at ace99900@aol.com.
Our Town Inc. will continue to honor local Rosie the Riveters during its annual event this summer. For more information on that event, contact Bobbi Trimboli at 304-636-0415.