A Community Honors Elka Troutman and Her Passion for Children’s Literacy

It was April 2016 when Ashland resident Elka Troutman, wife, mother and community volunteer, lost a long battle with colorectal cancer. A year later, her community wanted to do something special to remember her spirit and commitment to the children of Ashland. Together with the Friends of the Ashland Library, Troutman’s friends and family raised money to install a bronze sculpture, created by local artist Michael Alfano of Hopkinton, near the Children’s Room of the library. The sculpture unveiling took place on Nov. 5, 2017.
“When the Friends made the decision to purchase a statue to honor Elka, we thought it would be fitting to choose a character from one of Elka’s favorite children’s books,” said Children’s Library Director Lois McAuliffe. “With Elka’s help, we selected The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.” This classic is about a calf who doesn’t want to buck and fight like the other bulls but rather wants to sit peacefully and smell the flowers. Its central theme is “Be yourself and follow your path in life.
“We decided to commission a local artist to create a statue of a young calf. I wanted it to be a statue that the children would interact with, like they do with the kids on the bench over there,” said McAuliffe. “We are so pleased with the sculpture that Michael has created for us. This statue will be petted, hugged, climbed on and loved by children for years and years to come. And I hope that Elka’s love of reading will be passed on to those children as well.”
“As the sculptor, one of my most important tasks was to distill the sentiments of the library into a single image and then into bronze,” Alfano said. “What we created speaks volumes about the incredible mission Elka brought to life as well as the central role the Ashland Library and the Children’s room plays in the community.”
“In the sculpture, Ferdinand is shown, looking up from reading or sharing a book with his head angled quizzically observing life but still anchored to the book. He is sculpted on a child’s scale, so a young person can wrap their arms around Ferdinand and give him a hug or curl up next to him and read,” Alfano explained.
Jane Greenstein, a close friend of Troutman, spoke at the November unveiling.
“Elka’s love and devotion to her boys, Joshua and Jake, was first and foremost in her life, but she cared deeply for the welfare of all children,” Greenstein said. “Elka worked tirelessly to enrich the lives of Ashland’s children, through her co-chairing of the Summer Reading Program for many years, her countless hours volunteering in the schools’ libraries and classrooms, and her being the unofficial parenting secretary of our community—disseminating class lists at the end of every school year as well as information about school events and free family-friendly activities in the area. Elka did so much to help our kids be happy and fulfilled.”
McAuliffe and Troutman served as co-chair of the Summer Reading Program for five years, from 2011 until 2015. McAuliffe said, “Elka handled most of the ‘prep’ work – soliciting donations from sponsors, designing flyers, serving as liaison with the schools, and distributing end-of-summer prizes, while I ran the program with the kids during the summer. Although she had volunteer helpers each year, Elka invariably did the bulk of the work herself, putting an amazing amount of time and heart into the program.”
McAuliffe added, “During the five years that Elka was fund raising, the Children’s Room received over $12,000. We were able to purchase hundreds of books, audio books, a magazine subscription and a subscription to an online reading database … We are truly grateful to Elka and her family for all they have done in support of the Ashland Public Library.”