Forget Arnold's Drive-In, the new hangout for Fonzie and the gang is at Milwaukee's Riverwalk.
Former cast members will join Henry Winkler for the dedication of a new life-sized statue that immortalizes “Happy Days” star Arthur Fonzarelli at its permanent home on the Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee.
“During different stages along the process we did pass along photos to Henry. Henry, in his usual way, was very positive most of the time, but offered – as we did – his objective feedback to make some modifications and I think he's very pleased with the last photos that he has seen.”
Dave Fantle from Visit Milwaukee.org says he has gotten such positive feedback for this statue because despite his fame, Winkler remains very grounded and continues his humanitarian efforts. Fantle explains the Bronze Fonz depicts the classic Fonzie pose.
“This is a life-like bronze statue. It stands approximately 5'6″ to 5'7″, Henry's height. It's very much the Fonzie pose and that is the double thumbs up with the leather jacket.”
Just as important as the statue, is its background, Fantle says, in order to maximize the photo opportunity.
“We want this to be a picture postcard of Milwaukee. We want to go to Google images and see hundreds if not thousands of these over time, and what people are going to be seeing is this beautiful downtown cityscape of the statue framed against the river, the bridges, downtown, and they're going to say 'Wow, that's Milwaukee?'”
The statue comes at a cost of about $85,000. The day's celebration includes a parade, autograph signings and a special pre-Brewer game ceremony with the cast of the 1950s-era sitcom.
Dave Price from the CBS “Early Show” will do segments with the Happy Days cast live from Miss Katie's Diner on Tuesday morning from 7-9am.
The day-long celebration will conclude when Henry Winkler and his cast colleagues are honored at a pre-game ceremony at Miller Park prior to the Brewers game. The cast will throw out the first ball and Anson Williams (Potsie) will sing the National Anthem. A commemorative bronze the Fonz baseball card will be given to every fan that attends the game.