TerryP
Staff
Bear Bryant banner put to creative use
The Great Bear Bryant Slip and Slide. Now there are two terms you never thought you’d hear together.
Bear Bryant: Legendary football coach for the University of Alabama.
Slip and Slide: The summertime backyard fun water slide.
So what’s the deal?
To get ready for the ongoing “Art of Competition” sports exhibit, the staff members at the Hardin Center in Gadsden spent a great deal of time exploring the warehouse at the Bear Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa.
They found many treasures to bring back for the exhibit. And during their visits they often climbed over a crate to reach the other items. Until one day they stopped to find out what was in the crate.
Back in 1997, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the Bear Bryant stamp as part of the Legendary Football Coaches Commemorative postage stamp series.
The artwork was painted by Daniel A. Moore. As part of the celebration, the Bear Bryant Museum produced a massive 40-by-60-foot banner replica of the stamp that was hung on the University of Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum to face the museum. After the event, the banner was crated and stored in the warehouse.
Not knowing exactly how to incorporate the giant banner into the sports exhibit, the staff at the center brought the banner back to Gadsden. The first thought was to hang it from the building, but it was too large. Later the conversation turned to the comical as someone suggested it would make an awesome, oversize slip-and-slide. The conversation continued, and the fantasy eventually became reality.
Mash for the story's conclusion
