In the photos above, union members Steve Mahoney, Sam Moore, Mike Peters, Mark Roddy, and Shawn
Lenczowski team up with Dan Schlappie, John Dilworth and Jason Dilworth of union contractor Schommer &
Sons to rescue a statue of the virgin Mary damaged by vandals at The Grotto.
Union members, contractor, help
rescue damaged statue at The Grotto
Father Jack Topper (center), executive director of The Grotto, watches closely
as Mark Roddy and Steve Mahoney prepare to move the damaged statue of
the virgin Mary. Mahoney is a member of Iron Workers Local 29 and Roddy
is a member of Bricklayers Local 1.
DECEMBER 21, 2012
Union members and a union con-
tractor volunteered to help rescue a
marble statue of the virgin Mary that
was severely damaged by vandals at
The Grotto, a Catholic shrine and
botanical garden located in Northeast
Portland. The incident was reported to
police on Nov. 29.
Vandals knocked Mary from its
pedestal and removed her head. The
faces of two small angels at the base of
the statue also were damaged. The
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
head was found perched on a post on
the West end of the 62 acre property
near Northeast 87th Avenue and Beech
Street.
Additionally, the vandals beheaded
a statue of Joseph holding the baby Je-
sus. The head of baby Jesus was found
a day later in a nearby motel Dumpster.
Its eyes had been scratched out. The
head of Joseph — the most ornate of
the damaged sculptures — has not
been recovered.
On Dec. 7, retired Iron Worker
Steve Mahoney, unemployed Brick-
layers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1
apprentices Sam Moore and Mike Pe-
ters, and Bricklayer apprenticeship in-
structor Mark Roddy teamed up with
Dan Schlappie, John Dilworth, and Ja-
son Dilworth of Schommer & Sons to
pull the statue of Mary from the mud.
The men brushed and hosed the statue
clean before transporting it to a dry
safe place until The Grotto decides
how to proceed with its repair.
Bricklayers Apprenticeship Coordi-
nator Shawn Lenczowski said Local 1,
which trains bricklayers, tilesetters,
and marble workers, has members with
the skills to do the repair work.
Schommer and Sons, a union con-
tractor, donated the equipment to move
the statue, which weighs more than
1,000 pounds. Both statues are from
the 1940s and are carved from Italian
marble.
Rigging and transporting the statue
of Mary took several hours.
“It’s a delicate process. She’s very
brittle,” said Mahoney, a 40-year mem-
ber of Iron Workers Local 29.
Father Jack Topper, executive direc-
tor of The National Sanctuary of Our
Sorrowful Mother (the official name of
The Grotto), told the Labor Press that
the statues have been at The Grotto
since the 1970s.
“These statues are just exquisite,”
Topper told the Catholic Sentinel.
“Many people have said this is one of
their favorite statues, so it’s really so
sad. What does this accomplish?”
Father Topper said vandalism of
this magnitude has never occurred, ex-
cept once 25 years ago when a much
smaller statue was damaged.
A fund has been set up to help pay
for the repair or replacement of the
statues. For more information, call The
Grotto at 503-254-7371. Crime Stop-
pers also is offering a cash reward of
up to $1,000 for information in the
case. Leave a Crime Stoppers tip on-
line at www.crimestoppersoforegon.
com, text CRIMES (274637) and in
the subject line put 823HELP, followed
by tip, or call 503-823-HELP (4357)
and leave tip information.
PAGE 9