Biking to Bucky, Part 20

Lucky Bucky comes up heads.
6/29/2018  dwm photo

Today's three featured versions of Bucky stand along Martin Luther King, Jr Boulevard and the Capitol.

They are covered with an identifying feature.

Let's meet Bucky #8, #10, and #14.

Lucky Bucky - # 8 - Artist Emily J. Wirkus

Abe is looking to Illinois. (dwm)

According to its information page, 11,759 pennies cover Bucky.  All but a few heads up.  That's $117.59.

It glimmers in the sun and makes quite an impression.

The day of my visit, I wasn't aware it is also a puzzle.

Visitors are challenged to find the tail side of the Wheat penny, Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln Bicentennial, 4 2009 designs, and the Union Shield.  There is even a Canadian penny.

How hard can it to be to find 9 needles in this Bucky stack?  I might still be looking.

Signature Bucky
111 MLK Jr Blvd.
6/29/18 dwm photo

Signature Bucky - #10 - Artist Savannah Guthrie 

The map said this was Signature Bucky, but it looked like the mascot I see at every home game.  Until I got closer, when I noticed name after name covering nearly every inch.

U. W. Chancellor Rebecca Blank is
middle-center. 6/29/18 (dwm)

More than 4,000 signatures of the famous and not so famous.


Just under and behind Bucky's right ear is Bo Ryan's John Hancock.  There are signatures on his legs and down each red stripe.

Like the folks questing to see all the Buckys... the scores who shared their signature agree they love Buckingham U. Badger..

This shiny guy stands in front of
 the Monona Terrace Center. 6/29/18

I Am Bucky - #14 

Artist: Insane Paint Shop     Designer: Savannah Guthrie

Maybe you sat in the stands during a Wisconsin home game and imagined life inside the Bucky suit.  You watch him dance; pose for pictures; and do almost anything for a laugh.

Just maybe, you think, "I can be Bucky."

If you aren't a Badger fan, maybe your badger is a Boilermaker or Gopher - whatever your school's symbol - not only might you be Bucky.  You are Bucky.

I am Bucky.

The alumni claim life as Bucky naturally as on-going ambassadors.  Ardent fans live and die with the performance of their favorite team.

I see myself in Bucky and my bike (right). 6/29/18 (dwm)

Every Cheesehead identifies with Bucky because of the Wisconsin Idea.  It boils down to a campus not confined to Madison - it stretches border to border and from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan.

I am Bucky as the innovations and inventions dreamed up at the University influence agriculture, wildlife, commerce, culture, and everyday life.

You can look back at the previous 19 posts in this series by clicking here.