LIFE

Ronald McDonald House gets new, chauffeured Ronald

Clover Whitham, and Elizabeth Murray

Burlington Free Press

Ken Coleman of St. Louis, Missouri helps set up a Ronald McDonald statue at its new home in Burlington on Tuesday. Coleman brought the statue from his home in Missouri to Burlington after the former statue was vandalized.

It may have been difficult to get him to sit in the back of the Suburban, but at least he was a quiet passenger for the 1,400 mile journey.

A new Ronald McDonald statue arrived in Burlington Tuesday to replace the iconic figure that was vandalized and then removed from where it sat outside the Ronald McDonald House in Burlington for at least 15 years, according to executive director Kristine Bickford.

"I've had to do some disassembling to get him into my Suburban,” Ken Coleman said Friday.

Coleman and his wife, Tracy, chauffeured the new Ronald McDonald statue from their home in St. Louis, Missouri. The trip started Saturday and ended with a police escort Tuesday morning.

Coleman hopped out of the car, and told bystanders, "Ronald is home." Mayor Miro Weinberger, Bickford and other Ronald McDonald House members greeted the Colemans.

Coleman's mother had learned of the Burlington Ronald McDonald's plight in the news and alerted her son.

Ken Coleman, right, gets help lifting a Ronald McDonald statue out of his car to carry the statue to its new place at the Ronald McDonald House in Burlington on Tuesday.

Ken Coleman’s family had been in the McDonald’s restaurant business for 29 years until he sold his four locations in February. He followed in the footsteps of his parents, calling himself a “next generation franchisee.”

The new-to-Vermont Ronald once sat on a bench in a play area of one of Coleman's St. Louis McDonald’s. Coleman unbolted the statue from the bench in order to get him into his vehicle. On Tuesday, Coleman sat the Ronald statue to his new bench and attached the statue with a tether temporarily.

The Colemans donated the "used" statue, saving the charity the $7,500 it would cost to buy a new one. The Ronald McDonald House plans to pay, with help from Hotel Vermont, for a statue touch up, as well as security cameras and lighting to protect it, Bickford said. It will sit closer to the South Winooski Avenue house than its predecessor.

The Ronald McDonald statue sits in the front passenger seat of Ken Coleman's Suburban. Coleman and his wife traveled 1,400 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, to deliver the statue to its new home in Burlington.

Essex Middle School students raised about $500 for the Ronald McDonald House and presented Bickford with the check at . Bickford said the money will be used to pay for some of the expenses.

Last fall Bickford said vandals burned the old Ronald McDonald’s face, took off its head and sawed off its feet. The head was discovered dumped near Lake Champlain.

On Tuesday, Bickford thanked the Colemans for driving from Missouri to deliver the statue to its new home.

"This just warms my heart," she said. "It's a testament to what we do as a charity for the children and just the outpouring of support and what Ronnie means. ... We are overwhelmed and so grateful."

Coleman and his wife like to travel, and following the sale of their restaurants have plans to do more. The drive allowed their first trip to the state and saved the hassle and risk of shipping Ronald in a crate.

The Colemans were all smiles as they delivered the statue. They said the Ronald McDonald House is "near and dear" to their hearts.

"I think he really does bring hope and a feeling of love," Tracy Coleman said of Ronald McDonald's legacy. "That's the point of the house."

Editor's Note: FreePressMedia President and Publisher Al Getler is on the board of the Ronald McDonald House.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger thanks Ken and Tracy Coleman on Tuesday after the couple traveled 1,400 with a Ronald McDonald statue they donated to Burlington's Ronald McDonald House.