A new piece of artwork will brighten a Clarks Summit park, while celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday and honoring local veterans.
Borough officials are installing an 8-foot sculpture in Veterans’ Memorial Park at State Street and Clark Avenue. Made by artist Scott Nichols, the sculpture includes a model of the Liberty Bell mounted on a piece of hardwood in the middle of “250” and “USA.” Green ivy leaves and red, white and blue stars frame the words and the bell.
It will stand on a 6-by-3½-foot concrete and steel foundation made by Mark Shiffer, a masonry teacher at Abington Heights High School and owner of Shiffer Masonry and Construction LLC in the borough, and three of his students in the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute program at the school, which allows students to earn technical credentials while in high school. The foundation will include a spot for a plaque listing the names of everyone who worked on and donated to the project.
The sculpture and its foundation cost $5,000, with funding coming from donations of $3,500 from the VFW Post 7069, $500 from the VFW Post 7069 Ladies Auxiliary, and a $1,000 grant from the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department given to all municipalities for a project commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Nichols, a borough native who now lives in South Auburn, Susquehanna County, and Shiffer, who lives in Clarks Green, said officials contacted them earlier this year about creating the sculpture. Nichols said he started creating the bell out of metal not long after he was initially contacted. It took him four months to finish it.
“Once I started … bending the metal for the bell, and once I started seeing the size of everything, I sort of had, at that point, it all figured out in my head,” Nichols said.
Scott Nichols welds together steel rod next to his patriotic sculpture that will be put in Clarks Summit on Memorial Day Weekend in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scott Nichols points out the stars on top of the ‘250 USA’ sculpture he created in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scott Nichols poses for a photograph through the ‘250 USA’ sculpture he created in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scott Nichols poses for a photograph in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scott Nichols describes a sculpture he created in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scott Nichols works in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scott Nichols welds together steel rod next to his patriotic sculpture that will be put in Clarks Summit on Memorial Day Weekend in his Meshoppen studio Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Nichols said he settled on the Liberty Bell for the sculpture because he would have an easier chance to replicate it than the other option he was given, the Statue of Liberty. The stars at the top are meant to be like fireworks, and the vines crawling up the sides are a way for him to show his personal style, he said.
Shiffer and his students began working on the foundation last month. He said working on it gave them experience in masonry outside the classroom.
“It’s been wonderful to show them some real-world experience instead of being in the industrial room here at the school,” Shiffer said. “It’s been a really good experience for my students. They’ve they’ve learned a lot.”
Borough Manager Jennifer Basalyga said she appreciates that the students had a chance to work on it.
“I think that was a good experience for them,” she said.
Nichols, whose family owned and operated the Inn at Nichols Village in South Abington Twp. for 50 years, said the sculpture was fun to create and different from those he usually makes, which he said are more whimsical and incorporate things like flowers and butterflies. He said it allows him to leave his mark in the borough and give back to the community.
“I’m very happy with how it came out,” Nichols said. “I’m very proud of it.”
Shiffer said the project was a community endeavor, as multiple businesses and individuals — including the Dalton Do It Center, the Scarantino family and Ayers Supply Inc. — donated stone for the foundation.
Shiffer and Nichols hope it will draw people to the park and businesses in downtown Clarks Summit, which are within walking distance, and will show pride in the veterans and the country. Its location near the street means it is visible to many passersby.
“Hopefully even that alone can … bring that community vibe to the area,” Nichols said. “I hope that it brings people around and brings people closer.”
Council President Gerrie Carey thinks the sculpture will be a nice tribute to the veterans and the country’s 250th anniversary.
Shiffer expects to finish the base later this week, and Nichols hopes to install the sculpture next week. Borough officials will dedicate the sculpture with a ceremony at 2 p.m. on May 23.