Chief Logan returns to Bath Township
BATH — More than 200 years after making camp next to Hale Farm and Village, Mingo Indian Chief Logan returned to Bath Township June 1 to settle at the Bath Community Center on Cleveland-Massillon Road.
Chief Logan’s return was made possible by sculptor Joe Frohnapfel, of Stow. Township officials accepted the 20-foot, 7,000-pound statue of the chief and placed it on a pedestal paid for by an anonymous donor.
Bath Parks Administrator Mike Rorar said township officials debated on a number of locations for the chief and finally settled on the Bath Community Center because it was the most visible to passing motorists.
“Twelve thousand cars pass this site daily,” said Rorar.
He added that a “smudging ceremony,” during which the statue is blessed, is being organized.
Frohnapfel carved the statue from a 23-foot red oak felled by a storm in Fairlawn last May. Jeff Crites, assistant manager of Davey Tree, said the tree weighed more than 20,000 pounds and was too large to send to a sawmill. He decided to give it to Frohnapfel, whose art is scattered throughout the county, to make something of it.
Crites, shown in the foreground in the photo at right, was present to help Frohnapfel, shown at left, and crane operators install the statue. Several residents watched.
“Real Indians actually
touched this tree at one time,” marveled resident
Dr. Jeff Hamphill.
— By Maria Lindsay
Photo: Maria Lindsay
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