One of the benches along the paths of the park is...
" The Bench "
History
How It All Came to Be
By Rosemarie Salvatore
Ever since Beauty & the Beast came on the air I’ve felt very fortunate to live in the New York area, but never as much as in the Spring of 2006, when I sat down to watch a short local program about Central Park. There had been a few of these specials over the last few years, and if I heard about one I would always make it a point to watch.
I didn’t even realize then that these programs were sponsored by the Central Park Conservancy. They were not just about advertising, I learned a lot about Central Park from them. And I wished that other B&B fans could see them too.
In this one, they did a segment on the Adopt-a-Bench program. I immediately knew – practically jumped out of my seat – that this would be such a wonderful project for B&B Fandom. I also knew that, because not many fans even had the chance to see this program, it was up to me to find a way to get it done!
It was later that very night, when I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm any longer, that I took a chance and e-mailed two friends with the idea to see what they thought. I had already done some math to determine if the $7,500 adoption cost was even doable for our group.
One of these people was JoAnn Baca who was already organizing a "Fandom Projects" panel for the 2006 Denver, Colorado convention. She agreed that it was at least a good enough idea to present to other fans during the panel.
Also at that con, or perhaps just prior, I was talking to Brooke Rodriguez of the Carousels and Caverns group, California. She liked the idea of a fan dedicated bench in Central Park and told me, for the first time, about several thousand dollars that she had collected years ago from Fandom.
At one time there was a drive led by the Los Angeles group to get Ron Perlman a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fans from all over sent in small amounts of money to this cause – similar to the idea I was proposing. Unfortunately, at the time, they never reached the goal, and over the years the cost to have a Star had increased exponentially.
Brooke also explained that, in addition to the cost, you have to be selected by a committee because they only give out so many stars per year. In spite of the fact that the LA group has nominated Ron many times over the years, he has not been selected.
Brooke had kept meticulous records as to who gave what amount to this drive. But she never had much success in returning the money. She had tried to contact people; but often found that her contact information was no longer current.
She felt that this would be a worthy use of the money, I agreed, and we announced it to the convention that year to see what everyone else thought. As a result, between Brooke’s Star money and donations made at the con, I came home that year already a bit more than halfway toward our goal!
I continued to collect donations for the next six months. During this time, I knew that I was going to be hosting the 2008 convention in New Jersey and I already had visions of us visiting the bench as a group. But I didn’t know how long it would take the bench to be completed. So, during Winterfest Online 2007, I set the deadline for donations at January 31, 2007.
Having reached the goal, on Feb 22, 2007, I contacted the Central Park Conservancy and got the ball rolling.
Then we had the voting on what the inscription would be. At some point during the previous six months – the topic of the inscription came up on the BBTV list without me even having to ask. A lively discussion ensued, with people posting their suggestions or helping to tweak already posted suggestions. I had also asked for suggestions from all who contributed to the fund.
I consolidated all these suggestions into a two page ballot. The inscription that won did so by a landslide! It was not even my favorite at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. The quote captures the spirit of the show, is very comforting, inspiring, and just mysterious enough to maybe spark the interest of non-fans who happen to see it!
At the request of the Central Park Conservancy, I gave them several ideas about where we would like the bench to be located. Two popular choices were the Carousel and the Shakespeare Gardens. My contact was Janet Diminich of the Women’s Committee – a subdivision of the CPC - and she told me that there were no more benches available in the Shakespeare Gardens. However, keeping with the Shakespeare theme, she suggested the Delacorte Theater (where Shakespeare is performed every summer) and I told her that would also be fine with us.
The plaque was officially installed on the bench #05164, which became Our Bench, on July 19, 2007. But at the time, I didn’t know it was finished or even which location we had actually gotten, until I received a thank you letter from the CPC with a map that had the location marked. On Aug 26, 2007, I met a true New Yorker fellow fan near the 81st Street Park Entrance, and we went on a very short treasure hunt. As we now know, it is the first bench that you come to as you enter from that direction. I was thinking, no way could it be that easy – but it was!
We took pictures and I was planning some kind of formal announcement. But that summer several fans happened to be in New York and saw The Bench even before I did. So the cat was officially out of the bag
In the fall of 2007, I received a copy of a CPC newsletter. They featured Our Bench in a little area called "Can you find this bench?" They gave the location and mentioned that B&B fans as a group got together to dedicate it.
Of course, being able to have my "vision" realized and visit Our Bench after the 2008 convention with a large group of fans - and David Greenlee and Frank Luz to boot - was such a wonderful moment. Definitely one of my very favorite moments of the whole convention week!
I am so grateful to all the very generous fans that helped to make this little idea of mine a reality. It really is the perfect tribute to our show in the most perfect spot possible!
~
