Our council has sponsored a sculpture of Father Solanus Casey who died on July 31, 1957. The sculpture will be a bust to be first formed in linseed oil based clay and then transformed into a bronze casting. The sculpture project is fully endorsed by our council. The costs to prepare the sculpture will paid by donations or various fund raising projects which will be conducted during the next year. Donations to the Father Solanus Sculpture Project from private individuals or organizations or corporations are welcome.

Len Sieradski — a charter council member — is the sculptor who will be providing the artistic effort in fashioning the clay sculpture.. Len is a former NASA Scientist and was an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. During that time Len was tutored in the art of portrait sculpture by a very gifted sculptor, Ralph Preston of Altadena, CA. Len was the former Treasurer of the council from 1994 -1998. He has donated his time for the production of the bust. The sculpture project is currently underway and will be completed this year.

A rubber mold of the clay bust will be produced and a wax replica of the bust will be made to create the final bronze casting. The bronze bust will be made by a process known as "Lost Wax Investment Casting".

In this process the wax replica is encased in a ceramic shell. This ceramic shell and wax pattern is placed in a 1900 degree Fahrenheit oven and the wax is melted out and thus "lost". The ceramic shell can withstand the oven temperature and still retain the shape of the original clay sculpture. This ceramic shell is inverted and poured full of molten bronze metal. The bronze in the ceramic shell is allowed to cool resulting in a thin replica of the original clay bust. The bronze head is allowed to cool and harden and the ceramic shell is hammered and all the ceramic shell is removed from the bronze.

The bronze is glass bead blasted to clean it’s surfaces. Immediately after and before oxidation occurs, a liquid solution formed from Potassium Sulfide(K₂S) or "liver of sulfur" is painted on the bare, clean bronze surfaces. This forms a golden brown patina or surface color which further prevents normal oxidation and preserves the surface coloration for long periods of time.

Len and Alex Fiato — Charter Member and First Financial Secretary of Council #11276 — traveled to the St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, Michigan. This is where Father Solanus Casey was a porter for about 20 years. There Len examined many of Father Solanus’ items of clothing to measure them to aid in preparing the clay bust. He was allowed to examine and try on Father Solanus’ hat. By examining the hat, Len found out it was bought from J.L. Hudson in Detroit and was a size 7. The gold sticker bearing the hat size was still inside the leather headband and the hat was in excellent shape after some 60 years or more. Father Solanus was 5’ 10" tall, weighed 165 pounds and wore size 10 shoes.

The final bronze bust will be given to the St. Bonaventure Monastery as a gift from our council #11276. St. Bonaventure Monastery will display the bronze bust of Father Solanus in the new Father Solanus Casey Museum currently under development. The bust will serve to provide an enduring and realistic image to create a lasting memory of our beloved Father Solanus. It no doubt will be used to assist in the Canonization process of Father Solanus currently underway. Currently Rome has bestowed the honor of Venerable to Father Solanus and proceedings are underway for Rome to name him as a Saint. If canonized, Father Solanus will become the first male American born Saint.

One of his favorite sayings was, "Thank God in advance for granting your prayer requests". When he died his last words were, "I give my soul to Jesus Christ". Our council is proud to have him as a namesake.