The official website for Carhenge, located in western Nebraska
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Friends of Carhenge began as a crusade to save the popular tourist attraction from the wrecking ball. Sherry Garett caught a message on the police scanner one day -- the sheriff's department was called to a property north of Alliance, owned by a distant relative of hers, because "someone" was planting cars in a field there. It was the week of the Summer Solstice and the Reinders family had gathered for a family reunion on Jim Reinder's family farm. Reinders wanted to build something artsy, as a replica of Stonehenge, simply as a tribute to his father, Herman Reinders. Soon the city council got involved and ordered the car art torn down. Garett visited with Councilman Paul Phaneuf to get an idea of what the city would require to keep Carhenge alive. She called a public meeting of Carhenge supporters at the site and the response was overwhelming. "My desire to create Friends was because I thought that the city council was giving Jim a pretty bum rap on the "do's and don'ts of what could and could not be on his property." In September 1989, the Friends of Carhenge began the preservation projects for what is now known worldwide as Carhenge. Garett continues to serve with the Friends organization. "We've
had many ups and downs," she said. "But we're surviving them." |
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