Sculpted by ‘famous’ artist, it’s the lasting legacy of Collinsville’s Class of 1970
Officers for Collinsville High School’s Class of 1970 wanted to use their funds to leave a lasting legacy when they graduated, so they decided to commission an artist to create a statue.
President Mike Ray began the process like any teenager might have done in those days: He consulted the Yellow Pages.
Ray ran across an ad for Emma “Dale” Drulis, a St. Louis artist who specialized in metalworking.
“She was famous at that point, but it was unbeknownst to us how famous she really was,” said Dr. Ray, now 70, an orthopedic surgeon who lives in Naples, Florida.
Ray recently traveled back to Illinois for the class’s 50th reunion, which had been delayed two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the activities was a statue rededication on Sept. 16.
The nearly 5-foot-tall iron statue is an abstract depiction of a “Kahok,” a member of a fictional tribe of American Indians that has served as the school’s mascot since the 1920s.
The statue was first installed in the library at the old Collinsville High School building on Vandalia Street. It was moved two years later to the library of the current building on Morrison Avenue.
“They wanted something that was going to last and not be out in the weather,” said class member Cynthia Bohnenstiehl, 70, of Collinsville, a retired communications specialist who was a Student Council member and Cheer Club president in high school.
Candy sales and car washes
The Class of 1970 accumulated funds through candy sales, car washes and other fundraisers. By the time they were ready to graduate, they had about $500 to spend on their gift to the school.
Dale Drulis was the wife of former NFL player Chuck Drulis, who was serving as a defensive coach for the St. Louis Cardinals football team.
Dale Drulis already had created a large hammered-copper relief sculpture for the main entrance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It depicts a running back, blocker and tackler. Legend has it that her husband and sons Chuck and Kerry served as models.
Ray remembers calling Drulis on the phone to arrange for a meeting between her and several Class of 1970 officers.
“She was intrigued by our thoughts, and I think out of the goodness of her heart, she took it on,” he said.
“The only requirements we had is that 1) we didn’t want a stick figure and 2) we didn’t want a cigar-store Indian. Other than that, we gave her artistic license. It was up to her what she wanted to do.”
Ray and another group of students went to pick up the statue at Drulis’s art studio in an old warehouse near the St. Louis riverfront. They rolled it out on a dolly and loaded it onto a pick-up truck.
Some of the students rode back to Collinsville in the truck bed, holding onto the statue. That was legal in those days.
“That night, Mike had a graduation party at my parents’ house,” said Mike Ray’s brother, Don Ray, 68, a defense contractor at Scott Air Force Base who lives in O’Fallon.
“They put a blanket down on the dining room table, and they put a piece of plywood down and they put the statue on it so everyone could see it. Even the lady who made the statue showed up. She sat on the couch and talked to my mom.”
Plaque found decades later
The Class of 1970 also had a metal plaque made for the statue’s pedestal in the library. But it disappeared in the 1980s, so they had to get a replacement.
The original plaque resurfaced two years ago, almost as if on cue for the planned 2020 reunion and rededication.
A man who was renovating a house he had bought in Caseyville apparently found the plaque in a box in the attic. He posted a photo on Facebook, hoping to reach someone who knew the story behind it.
Mike Ray’s brother Scott Ray saw the Facebook post and told Don Ray, who contacted the man, drove to his house and retrieved the plaque. It was in perfect condition.
“Who knows how it got there or how long it was in the box,” Don Ray said. “It was probably just someone doing a prank or just trying to be ornery, and they picked it up because they could.
“I knew what my brother Mike did to get this statue made and get this plaque generated. It meant a lot to him.”
More than 150 people attended the Class of 1970 reunion dinner Sept. 17 on the Edwardsville campus of Lewis & Clark Community College. An estimated 25 had gathered in the Collinsville High School library to rededicate the statue.
Bohnenstiehl sees the 1970 commission as an early sign that many of her classmates would become respected citizens and accomplished professionals in a variety of fields.
“Even back then, I could see that I was among leaders, and I was not wrong,” she said. “These people went on to do great things.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
