Cape unveils statue of President Kennedy

President Kennedy found solace on Cape Cod: at the helm of a sailboat, walking ankle-deep in surf, and playing touch football on a sandy beach with his Navy buddies from PT-109. Almost 44 years after his assassination, the place where Kennedy went to find himself now has its first statue dedicated to the 35th president.

In a ceremony that included clam chowder, bagpipes, and the Barnstable High School band, a 6-foot, 400-pound bronze cast was unveiled outside the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum.

The statue captures the president in midstride, dressed in a pullover shirt with chino pants rolled up past his ankles. Live eel grass grows at the statue's bare feet, and it stands on a mound of sand, scooped from the beach outside the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port.

"He's got a smile on his face and that typical Kennedy gait," said Louis Cataldo, chairman of the committee that spearheaded the $140,000 memorial, which was funded by state grants and private donations. On Tuesday, Kennedy would have been 90 years old.

David Lewis, a Cape Cod artist, sculpted the statue in a 180-year-old barn in Osterville, making a model of clay that he cast in bronze.

It immortalizes Kennedy's image near the Hyannis Village Green.

"He loved this place he called home with all his heart," his younger brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, said in a statement.

"Hopefully, this statue will especially inspire young people who come to Hyannis to have a great dream, and to try to make a difference," Kennedy said.