Greek goddess makes triumphant return to Tarentum
Proving that she is the Goddess of Youth, Hebe has returned to the Tarentum Bridge after a hit-and-run truck took out the 102-year-old statue in March.
The Greek goddess, stationed near or on the Tarentum Bridge for most of her life, previously survived being struck by a wagon driver in the early 1900s.
The new statue was revealed on Thursday morning in a brief but spirited ceremony with silver star balloons and clanking plastic champagne glasses filled with sparkling water.
Standing 5 feet tall and weighing a robust 500 pounds, the new Greek goddess reigns from a small grassy patch bound by concrete, lending a graceful greeting to 21,000 commuters who use the bridge daily.
The secret of her youth is the support of the 113-year-old Tarentum Book Club, which erected the original Hebe statue to provide a touch of sophistication to the working-class town.
The book club rallied with the Tarentum History and Landmarks Foundation to raise about $1,000 to purchase the stone goddess aglow in a bronze patina.
“Just because this guy that destroyed the statue never stopped, that's no reason for us not to have a Hebe in town,” said Cindy Homburg, executive director of the Tarentum History and Landmarks Foundation.
Homburg approached the book club with a plan to bring in a new Hebe earlier this year.
“The Tarentum Book Club continues to be a vital part of Hebe's history, and we hope that this new sculpture will last another 100 years,” said Linda Gibson, book club president.
The new Greek goddess hails from a statuary firm in Wauconda, Ill., where she was shipped to Lesney Concrete in Frazer Township.
Not surprisingly, Hebe literally stopped traffic on Thursday as about 15 members of the book club and history foundation were escorted by Tarentum police to cross the busy highway to reach the statue, which was shrouded in a white cloth.
They lauded the statue's contribution to the post-industrial town.
“It's nice to have a good thing happen rather than the bridge jumpers and the house fires,” said Marlene Campbell, of Tarentum, a member of the town's History and Landmarks Foundation.
Amid the rumble of tractor trailer trucks downshifting and cars pulling into the Marathon gas station, Mayor Carl Magnetta said, “We want to welcome you back Hebe.”
Actually, this is Tarentum's third Hebe.
The first statue was installed in a fountain in a triangular property at the intersections of East Seventh Avenue, Ross and Mill streets, which is now near the foot of the Tarentum Bridge.
Statues of the Greek goddess were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s when mass produced sculpture became affordable to small towns, according to historians.
A second Hebe statue was bought by the borough in the 1980s to stand in for the original, when it was under repairs. That Hebe statue now resides in Riverview Memorial Park in Tarentum.
Mary Ann Thomas is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4691 or mthomas@tribweb.com.
