Reagan statue unveiled in Dixon, Illinois

The city of Dixon, Illinois on the Rock River hopes to revitalize the downtown area and has developed "Heritage Crossing Riverfront Plaza." Poet William Cullen Bryant, a proponent of Manhattan’s Central Park, called the Rock River “one of the most beautiful of our western streams,” and Ronald Reagan who was a life guard at near by Lowell Park in 1926, remembered the "Hudson of the Midwest" fondly. On August 14 a statue Reagan, "Begins the Trail" by Dixon native and sculptor Don Reed was unveiled and dedicated. The artist said "he hoped the figure captured some of Reagan’s “energy and warmth” and that residents would be able to “identify with him as someone a lot like us.” Nancy Reagan sent a letter thanking the city, and said "Ronnie would be pleased." The statue "depicts the future California governor and two-term president of the United States as a 39-year-old movie star riding a horse in a hometown parade, prior to his entry into politics." (All information from various editions of saukvalley.com) Another account reports that the dammed up swimming area where he was a lifeguard for 7 years was very dangerous and he is credited with saving 77 swimmers.

I haven't had much luck with a good photo to download, but here are two from Shaw News Service. Didn't find one in the Rockford paper. Reagan lived in Dixon until 1933; he attended Eureka College.