Bearly any effort required to place Winnie in Abilene storybook home

Last year, Otis the Tractor barely made it to his spot on the north end of Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden.

This year, Winnie, a bear, was trucked to her spot, no problem.

In fact, while Otis required a bigger mechanical hoist, five city employees simply carried Winnie to her new home across from Otis.

She weighs only 250 pounds. An average size for a bear, by Abilene standards.

Not far away, the three bears usually focused on Goldilocks scampering away, seemed to have their attention diverted to Winnie.

There was no reply, however, to media requests for comment.

The Garden was full of activity as workers spruced up the site. Unfortunately, crossvine had to be removed from trellises. Not all but a good portion of withered vines and brown leaves.

And just up Pine Street, workers were busy installing one of four limestone pillars that will mark the Abilene Cultural District. The one near Frontier Texas! will feature an eight-foot relief of Sanderson Mansnoozie by William Joyce, created by local sculptor Steve Neves.

Winnie, the creation of author-illustrator Sophie Blackall, officially will be unveiled next Thursday, with Blackall present for the 10th annual Children's Art & Literacy Festival. Winnie comes from her book "Finding Winnie."

As of Thursday, she's found. In the most likely place, the Storybook Capital of America.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. 

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Bearly any effort required to place Winnie in Abilene storybook home