The new Welcome to Clark Lake sign nears completion.  Over the last couple days, Annette Fink and her team have installed tiles along the sides of the mural, refining the appearance. 

What’s next?  Tricia Boyers will add to the framing of the mural.  She will apply slate black paint around the bottom edge.  That will add contrast to the drama of the color high-fired clay pieces above.  The same color will match the plaque side of the sign.  

Tucker Boyers, Don Fowler, and other volunteers will provide additional finishing touches.  Heavy duty landscape cloth, black edging and slate black chips will be placed around the base.

As most are aware, the side facing the path will recognize donors who have supported the Spirit Trail.  For each plaque, the Spirit Trail received a contribution of $1,000, and $2500 for business logos.

Over the last 60-days, the Committee presented proofs to each donor to ensure that wording was correct.     

The plaques are designed to be as permanent as the Sign itself.  They are cast in bronze.  They symbolize this generation’s dedication to Clark Lake and to what it deems important to the community.  The Spirit Trail is one example.  There are others including the magic produced by the Garden Angels, saving the Graziani cottage to become the Community Center, and lake activities like Run Clark Lake, Crab Races, and Raft-O-Rama.  Perhaps the Sign will signal to future generations what the history of Clark Lake has established so far. 

This videos sums up a couple chapters of the Sign story.  Sign creator Annette Fink explains construction techniques and describes the Glaze-a-thon where Clark Lakers came together to help glaze the colorful clay pieces that would later be high-fired and cemented to the surface of the Sign.