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Fill-in of amble proportions

Kim Bonner, left, and Kelly Kuhn, visiting from San Francisco, pose for a picture with Fillmore West, the fiberglass moose at Fourth and Sherman in Coeur d'Alene Wednesday afternoon. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Taryn Brodwater Staff writer
Kim Bonner, left, and Kelly Kuhn, visiting from San Francisco, pose for a picture with Fillmore West, the fiberglass moose at Fourth and Sherman in Coeur d'Alene Wednesday afternoon. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

Cats have nine lives. How many does a moose have?

Rocky and Bullwinkle, the life-size fiberglass moose carted off by thieves earlier this summer, is on its second.

The new and renamed moose, Fillmore West, will be standing in for Rocky at the EXCEL Foundation’s Sept. 25 fund-raising moose auction.After realizing the stolen moose statue might never be recovered, organizers of the EXCEL Foundation’s public art project and fund-raiser for local schools commissioned a replacement moose. Artist Richard Gendron of Spokane, the same artist who painted the colorful and cartoonish original, created a sequel to the missing moose.

Fillmore West has been on display at Fourth and Sherman for about a month now. Although it, like the original, is covered with cartoon characters, Fillmore isn’t an exact replica of Rocky.

“The artist said he couldn’t, as an artist, repaint it the same,” said Lonne Jordahl, chair of the No Moose Left Behind project. Gendron couldn’t be reached for comment.

Fillmore and the 24 other moose sculptures decorated by local artists will be on public display only for a few more weeks. After Labor Day weekend, the moose will be herded into hiding for cleaning, repairs and fresh clear coats before hitting the auction block.

No Moose Left Behind’s name is a play on President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind plan for education reform. The EXCEL Foundation has raised more than $500,000 since 1987 to benefit local school projects. This is the group’s largest fund-raiser yet.

Jordahl said the group is hoping to raise at least $150,000. Similar projects in communities the size of Coeur d’Alene have brought in $175,000 and as much $350,000.

Tickets for the auction and dinner went on sale this week for $110 each. The auction begins at 5 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. For those unable to attend, the foundation will accept proxy bids.

On Wednesday, the foundation announced that twin sisters Annie and Amy Smith of Texas had been hired as auctioneers. The sisters auctioned off fiberglass buffalo for a similar project in Wyoming.

Auction co-chairwoman Grace Lusk said organizers of the Casper, Wyo., “Where the Buffalo Roam” project credited the sister auctioneers with the success of their auction.

The Smiths have lent their talent to the cause of teen pregnancy prevention with stars Jane Fonda and Robert Redford and also worked with Oscar de la Renta and Tom Brokaw.

Though the large moose that will be auctioned are going to be removed from public viewing prior to the auction, several smaller moose decorated for the fund-raiser will be on display at downtown art galleries. Those moose will be sold through silent auction.

Commemorative poster calendars and books featuring all of the moose also are being sold.

Tickets for the auction are available by calling (208) 292-2683. Information on No Moose Left Behind is available on the foundation Web site, www.excelfoundation.org.