{"id":255160,"date":"2020-03-18T21:26:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T11:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=255160"},"modified":"2020-09-06T14:20:54","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T04:20:54","slug":"phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/18\/phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"Phyllis Shows Pumpkin Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Phyllis Hopf’s contribution to the pumpkin project will be recognised with a small plaque on the plinth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 18, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tourists who drive through Goomeri now have a new option for a selfie .. with a difference!<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Gympie Mayor Mick Curran officially unveiled Goomeri’s new pumpkin statue in Market Square, a block north of the town’s famous clock in Moore Street.<\/p>\n

The unveiling was carried out in conjunction with the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival’s quarterly Twilight Markets.<\/p>\n

The 500kg statue is hand-crafted from Indonesian green stone, and has been carefully mounted on a raised concrete block.<\/p>\n

The block’s surfaces are covered with mosaics by Sunshine Coast artist Heather May, from Amayz Mosaics.<\/p>\n

Mayor Curran said the statue owed its existence to Goomeri resident Phyllis Hopf, and asked her to explain how it all came about.<\/p>\n

Phyllis said the statue was originally found in Indonesia by a trader, who shipped it to a Brisbane warehouse and then looked around for a buyer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 18 months ago, the trader offered it to the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival committee.<\/p>\n

However, when his asking price turned out to be more than the Festival committee could afford, Phyllis bought it herself and donated it to the town.<\/p>\n

She also donated the cost of metal supports to mount the statue on its plinth, and also paid the artist who created the plinth’s murals. <\/p>\n

Phyllis, who farmed at nearby Cinnabar for many years before moving to Goomeri, said she didn’t want to say how much she paid but\u00a0it was unimportant as it was a gift she wanted to give to the town.<\/p>\n

Having acquired the sculpture, the next challenge was where to put it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We originally thought of mounting it further along the street, but TMR rejected that idea,” Phyllis said.<\/p>\n

“However Council stepped forward and offered us a spot in Market Square, so things got under way soon after that.”<\/p>\n

Phyllis said local volunteers had chipped into build the concrete plinth; a Goomeri engineering company built the mount that holds the statue in place; and other people helped with moving the statue on to its new home.<\/p>\n

Heather May handcrafted the five mosaic panels over 10 weeks.<\/p>\n

“All five of these mosaics are different, but they all have pumpkins and I think they’re beautiful,” Phyllis said.<\/p>\n

Phyllis told the audience Gympie Regional Council plan to put a concrete path around the statue and possibly landscape the site with some small garden beds.<\/p>\n

But for now – and certainly at this year’s Pumpkin Festival – visitors can take unique selfies of themselves with Goomeri’s best-known icon.<\/p>\n

Mayor Curran praised Phyllis’ outstanding community spirit, and congratulated everyone else who had helped.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This included the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival Committee, who sourced the artist who created the murals for the statue’s base.<\/p>\n

“I’m sure this statue will become a Goomeri icon in the years to come,” Mayor Curran said.<\/p>\n

“Good on you for doing it. It’s an amazing piece.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
The new statue is located at the front of Market Square in Moore Street<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Gympie Mayor Mick Curran and “Mayor Of Goomeri” Phyllis Hopf cut the ribbon to officially launch Goomeri’s new pumpkin statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
After the official ribbon-cutting, Goomeri residents involved in the project gathered with Mayor Curran and Phyllis Hopf for a group photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[UPDATED with correction]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tourists who drive through Goomeri now have a new option for a selfie .. with a difference!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":255162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3,10],"tags":[100,1130],"yoast_head":"\nPhyllis Shows Pumpkin Pride - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tourists who drive through Goomeri now have a new option for a selfie .. with a difference!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/18\/phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phyllis Shows Pumpkin Pride - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tourists who drive through Goomeri now have a new option for a selfie .. with a difference!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/18\/phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-18T11:26:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-06T04:20:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/20200316goomeri2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/18\/phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/03\/18\/phyllis-shows-pumpkin-pride\/\",\"name\":\"Phyllis Shows Pumpkin Pride - 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