Buon Viaggio - Gala Send Off
25 June - 27 June, 1999

     Charles Dent loved people. He loved parties where he would engage in a favorite pastime: talking to people. Charlie would have come away from the Buon Viaggio weekend feeling happy, surprised, and excited by how many people his idea attracted. To tell the truth, both LDVHI and Tallix were a bit unprepared for so many people. Perhaps we should have taken a hint when, on Wednesday and Thursday, crowds of people caused traffic jams on Beacon, NY's Fishkill Avenue by literally stopping their cars on the road and jumping out to take pictures of the now-assembled Horse gleaming in the sunlight on the lawn inside Tallix's entrance. The foundry had to post security just to keep people off the grounds until the 10:00 a.m. Friday 25 June opening. Dutchess County had estimated perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 might show up. In expectation of that number, LDVHI had 10,000 pamphlets printed, and 1500 Leonardo T-shirts. The folders were gone by mid-Saturday, as were the T-shirts, and the crowds kept streaming across the street, directed by community police who were themselves overworked for a few days.

     Definitely a family affair, the event drew people of all ages, backgrounds and expectations, from people who had just read the front-page New York Times article and caught a train out of the city to see The Horse to donors who had been following the project for 10 years and wanted to celebrate The Horse's imminent journey to Milan. One couple was from Los Angeles. Having read a front-page Los Angeles Times article about The Horse, they flew East just to see it in person. One elderly gentleman of Italian-American heritage was in tears as he viewed the magnificent sculpture, moved deeply by a gift to be sent to "the old country" by America, and surprised to learn that neither a single member of the Board nor Charlie Dent was of Italian ancestry. He was told of Charlie's passion for Italy and the Renaissance.

     "Admirers of da Vinci Horse Stall Traffic" was a headline in Saturday's Times Herald-Record of the region, and it was true. At times, a six-mile backup was reported and traffic was stuck at the Exit 12 off-ramp from I-84. All to see a horse, of course.

The Honorable Giorgio Radicati, Italian Consul General to New York City and Charles C. Dent's nephews Peter Dent and PA state Senator Charles W. Dent discuss The Horse

     Charlie's nephew, Peter Dent, an LDVHI trustee, reveled in telling "Charlie stories" to crowds gathered around The Horse. Sculptor Nina Akamu, when not being interviewed by the press, was busy explaining the process of creation to fascinated listeners. Trustees Rod and Diane Skidmore attended multiple duties of managing the LDVHI "store" (a tent, actually), helping Tallix workers with crowd control, and when time permitted, telling the story of The Horse. Nancy Mohr finalized plans for Saturday evening's donor's dinner, Business Manager Barbara Strohl answered "Horse questions" by the hundreds, and Tallix Marketing took orders for the small horses which helped finance LDVHI. Skip Kralik and John Sheppard were enjoyably busy with press, such as American Oggi, ABC News, Austrian TV (ORF), The Philadelphia Inquirer, People Magazine, The New York Times writer and photographer, and others. NBC broadcast a segment of the Today Show live from Tallix.

     Special guests for the weekend included Milanese councilman Gian Galeazzo Visconti di Modrone, Angelo Pettinari, a representative of SNAI, our sponsor in Italy, and Fred and Lena Meijer, sponsors of the American Horse which was to be installed in Grand Rapids, Michigan and unveiled in October of 1999.

     Thanks to an arrangement by Tallix Marketing with Dutchess County, the celebration became regional. County funds covered the cost of moving The Horse outside the foundry and assembling it, traffic control costs, and some printing and lighting expenses. (We were told by many that their favorite view of The Horse was at night under the powerful lights.)

     Day and night, thousands of photographs were taken as friends and families posed in front of The Horse to record a moment in history. Said one woman, standing by the fence, "I wish I had stock in Kodak film!"

Party Pictures Tallix Foundry

   

      Tallix workers were hard-pressed to keep up with crowd control, water supplies and answering non-stop phone calls in the office. Greg Glasson, Tallix's project manager for The Horse, called the event "unprecedented" in the foundry's existence. The offices and grounds were somewhat disheveled by Sunday at 6:00, but most workers seemed to have enjoyed being part of the experience.

     Just how many people saw The Horse? Through conservative crowd estimates by several methods, we arrived at over 35,000 people. The police told us that "at least" an additional 15,000 people drove by Wednesday and Thursday, and the three nights during which The Horse was lighted.

     Charlie loved people. He would have been thrilled that over 50,000 people came to see The Horse; he would have tried to talk to every one of them!