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Charles Paddock statue to be unveiled July 4 

Tiger_1On Saturday, July 4 at 2 p.m., the Vandenberg Chapter of the Military Order of World Wars, together with Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, Chapter Chairman and City Councilman Bob Kelley, Chapter Co-Chair Chuck Ward and artist Mark Greenaway, will host a special dedication and unveiling of the life-size, six foot tall, bronze statue honoring the founder of the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero and former County Park Ranger, Charles Paddock. This special event marks the 60th anniversary of the zoo.

The Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero was established in 1955 by the late Chuck Paddock, a local park ranger who was known for nursing injured wild animals he came across back to health. The statue features ranger Paddock together with his locally famous opossum, Cosmo Topper, the first animal Paddock rescued while irrigating the grounds at the Atascadero Lake Park. The statue encourages children to rub Cosmo Topper’s nose for good luck as they enter the Zoo. The statue also includes a plaque which honors Charles Paddock’s son, Michael Paddock, a U.S. Marine who died fighting in the Vietnam War and who was awarded two Bronze Star Medals for valor.

In 2012, and after the Atascadero City Council approved permanently locating the statue near the entrance of the Zoo, the design and execution of the project was brought to life by a local group of volunteers made up of members of the Military Order of the World Wars – Vandenberg Chapter. Since that time, the order has raised $60,000 in donations to offset the cost of the statue. The order also hired Mark Greenaway, an Atascadero artist, to design and create the project. Mark started with oil-based clay to create the model and then added wax to create the details and texture before casting it into bronze. Mark Greenaway also created the Faces of Freedom Veterans Memorial bronze statue.

Also on the 4th of July, the San Luis Obispo County Band will be performing from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at the Atascadero Lake Park Bandstand. Members of the band come from all over the county, from Paso Robles to Nipomo and all points between. This year, there will not be other games, activities or festivities happening at the Lake Park on July 4th.

The Atascadero Lake Park and the Charles Paddock Zoo are located just off of Highway 41 in Atascadero. For zoo information, visit www.charlespaddockzoo.org.

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on , Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at scott@accesspublishing.com.

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