Location set to indicate noon

SOAP LAKE - More than 50 people celebrated the coming of the "Calling the Healing Waters" sundial during the Solstice Inauguration at East Beach Park in Soap Lake Saturday morning.

Mayor Wayne Hovde told the crowd the sundial will be one of the city's best assets.

"We are grateful to have people of that dedication," he said about the Soap Lake Garden Club.

The garden club spent more than 13 years raising funds and obtaining grants to purchase the $150,000 sculpture.

The sculpture is a man and a woman sitting on a rock while the woman holds a bowl allowing water to drain through the bottom. Cast iron wings spread across the sculpted man's back as his hand extends toward the sky. The winged arm will point toward noon on the sundial.

Keith Powell who sculpted the sundial, pounded a marker into the ground indicating where the wing will point at noon. Artist David Govedare, who also worked the piece, was not present at the event.

Powell said he hopes the sculpture becomes a focal point at the park. Visiting the sundial should prove to be a personal experience, he said.

Prior to placing a marker indicating noon, Big Bend Community College Astronomer James Hamm explained the significance of the solstice event.

Solstice means "sun stands still," he said. It indicates the first day of summer and is when Earth's rotational axis points most directly toward the sun.

Due to the direction of the axis, Saturday was the most accurate day to set a sundial, Hamm said.

Contrary to what most people believe, he added, the sun is closest to Earth in the winter and farthest from Earth in the summer.