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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man who found two forgotten theme park statues under a pine tree has restored the Snow White characters and given them to the Utah State Developmental Center.
Paul Strong found the statues from the Fairyland Park last year buried near a tree at the developmental center, which helps people with disabilities, KSL-TV reported (http://bit.ly/1THt88x). The statues had been forgotten for years since the American Fork storybook-themed park was torn down in 1976.
The American Fork theme park was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but it soon lost steam. After it was torn down, the figurines appear to have been left in place and forgotten.
"I thought they are just deteriorating underneath these pine trees, so I have got to do something," he said.
Strong got permission from the city to restore the statues. The effort took almost a year, but now the figures have been positioned back in place. Next to the display sits a small tombstone that reads "In Memory of Fairyland 1956-1976." Paul restored two of the seven dwarfs known in the popular story. One figurine depicts a capped and bearded man riding a deer. The other is a dwarf sitting on a log.
Utah State Developmental Center Superintendent Guy Thompson said the center is happy to have a tribute to Fairyland Park and that he hopes to find the other dwarfs to complete the scene.
"We are more than happy to have a remembrance of Fairyland Park and the Seven Dwarfs," Thompson said. "We would like to find someone in the community that has some pictures of the original Seven Dwarfs so we can see if we can maybe reunite them."
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Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/
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