Arbogast provided the following statement to the Bulletin after the Morris gala event Saturday night. The statement provided is a portion of a longer one posted to the Morris Tryon Facebook page over the weekend:
“A one horse town… the save Morris fundraiser is just about that, raising money for restoring the town mascot, all of the money raised goes to that and if there is any excess, it will be in a fund for Morris maintenance. As a town official I am tired of the rumor mills grinding on about this, in the past there have been several attempts to fund a similar project… they amounted to nothing and Morris continued to deteriorate. Now in short order, something is happening….”
Peoples said Morris is being completely rebuilt with a fiberglass body because so much deterioration was found when the former wooden version was opened up. Peoples said two holes were found in the mascot’s head, which were allowing water to get inside and rot the frame from the inside out.
Handling restoration of Morris are Chip O’Brien and Johnny Hipp, both of Tryon. Peoples said the two were selected through an informal bid process earlier this year.
D’Arbanville stressed that additional funds raised through the project would be used to maintain Morris on a regular basis. Committee members anticipate bringing Morris home in September, she said.