The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley The long-awaited Rosie the Riveter statue arrived in Elkins Monday after being boxed and shipped from Utah. The Emma Scott Garden Club raised money for the statue, which stands 6-foot, 3-inches tall.

ELKINS — Two years ago, members of the Emma Scott Garden Club came up with a plan to have a life-sized Rosie the Riveter statue constructed for display in downtown Elkins.

Since then, members of the organization have worked hard to raise money to create the 6-foot, 3-inch statue, which was designed by Big Statues of Provo, Utah, at a cost of $67,000.

On Monday morning, the biggest hurdle in the project was cleared when the statue itself and its 850-pound black marble base were delivered to Elkins. The statue was shipped from Utah and will be stored at a facility owned by Jim Davis, where it will remain until it can be moved to its permanent location.  

“The garden club would like to thank Dave Kubichek and his team from MegaCorp for having the statue and its base shipped to Elkins,” Emma Scott Garden Club President Linda Shomo, who headed up the Rosie Statue Project, told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “MegaCorp volunteered to do this for us and we were extremely excited when the statue and base arrived in Elkins safe and sound. We appreciated the excellent help.”

Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco, two Rosies, and several others from the community were on hand to welcome the statue upon its arrival.

“Rachel Pingley and Loraine Moran are two Rosies we have from our community and they were both extremely excited to see the statue,” Shomo said. “We had several other people come out and take a look at her when she came off the truck. This process has been a long time coming and we are thrilled to finally have Rosie here in Elkins.”

Shomo said the next step for the project is getting the statue placed at the All Veterans Memorial on Railroad Avenue.

“We have the money to put her in the ground,” Shomo said. “We just have to wait for one of the construction teams we’ve been talking to, to get enough time to do it. They have to dig a hole, put a base in the ground, and then fill it with cement. We are crossing our fingers that we can have it done before the Forest Festival. It would be so nice for people coming from out of town to be able to see the statue.”

Shomo said the statue’s purchase and arrival in Elkins wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the entire community, and especially the following individuals: Judy Guye, Charles Shomo, Jim Sayres, Debbie Shahan, Peggy Ross, Ashton White, Tonya White, Cris Siler, Dave Kesling, Chris See, Jerry Marco and Lynn Phillips.

Once the statue is placed in the ground, the next phase of the project at the All Veterans Memorial will begin. This phase will include construction of a sitting wall next to the statue, new sidewalks for the entire park, lighting, site signs, benches, and a parking lot. The total cost for the second phase of the project will be $190,000.

“We are going to continue to work hard to make sure we see this project through,” Shomo said. “Once it is all complete, we are going to have another beautiful park in Elkins.”

The Emma Scott Garden Club is currently accepting donations for the project, and recently established a GoFundMe account. For more information, or to make a donation, contact Shomo at 703-861-9351.

The Inter-Mountain photos
by Edgar Kelley
The long-awaited Rosie the Riveter statue arrived in Elkins Monday after being boxed and shipped from Utah. The Emma Scott Garden Club raised money for the statue, which stands 6-foot, 3-inches tall.