West Aurora Eagle Scout gives handmade Viking shield replicas to Geneva History Museum
West Aurora High School student Erik Longo of Aurora presented Geneva History Museum with an early Christmas present on Dec. 21.
For his Eagle Scout project, Longo, a West senior, presented eight handmade Viking replica shields to the museum’s Viking’s Voyage exhibit.
Longo’s project culminated 437 hours of labor by 23 volunteers over the past two years. For his project, Longo mobilized eight friends and 15 Scouts from Blackhawk Troop 11 which meets at Wesley United Methodist Church in Aurora.
The museum celebrated with “Freya’s Farewell,” a sendoff for the museum’s popular gallery exhibit which ended Dec. 23.
About 100 persons attended the event which took place on the date of Winter solstice which Vikings celebrated with yule festivities.
At the shields’ unveiling, guests were invited to frolic under mistletoe hanging from a ceiling, taste free Viking-style snacks and beverages from Geneva’s Stockholm’s Restaurant and Brewery, and pose for photos with costumed Viking reenactors from Naper Settlement.
Longo said he organized his team after learning shields that adorned the Viking had been stolen during multiple relocations from Chicago. He plans to begin college studies next fall with the goal of becoming an airline pilot.
The shields will become permanent displays on the sides of the famous 130-year-old Viking, a replica ship sailed from Norway to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The ship has been on display under a shelter at Good Templar Park in Geneva since 1995. A dragon head and tail framed the original Viking.
Terry Emma, museum director, said the Viking is the largest surviving display artifact of the Columbian Exposition.
A five-member team from Elmhurst-based Third Coast Conservation restored the historic Viking ship head and tail. It was named Freya in a public contest held by the museum.
The restorers believe the pieces were repainted multiple times between 1920 and 1978, while Viking was on display in Lincoln Park.
In 1979, before the head and tail were placed in storage at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, they were moved to a Sugar Grove artist’s home for restoration. After the pieces were painted red, gold, and green, they were stored at the museum for years.