Paul Hammel: Fight over feline calls for having a little fun sometimes
A fierce fight over a feline has erupted at the State Capitol.
Of course we’re talking about Cameron the Capitol Cat.
Paul Hammel
Cameron was an ever-present fixture at the Capitol, magically appearing to greet workers and state legislators as they arrived in the morning, and just as amazing, returning at closing time to bid farewell.
This was one friendly cat, who you could tell, loved people and attention (and treats). He would walk right over to you, and present himself for a scratch or a pet.
He had hundreds of fans. Some created a Facebook page about him. There was a book about Cameron. And when he was somehow absent from his official-greeter duties, an alarm would go out.
More than once, Cameron had to be rescued from a local humane society shelter because he’d been mistaken for a stray cat.
(He “lived” in an apartment a couple blocks from the State Capitol. Once out the door, he’d venture over to the south steps of the Capitol building to fulfill his duties.)
But now there’s a feline furor over whether a bronze statue of Cameron (whose owner moved to an assisted living facility in the spring) would be appropriate in the vicinity of the Capitol.
State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward and former State Sen. Anna Wishart have started a GoFundMe account to fund and erect a bronze statue of Cameron across the street. It’s a place where you’d sometimes see the cat as it made its way to the Capitol steps.
But standing in the way is an appointed board of Lincoln folks, the Capitol Environs Committee, which governs the architecture, landscape and development in a 70-square block area around the historic capitol.
This commission met recently to consider the Cameron statue idea, and expressed doubts about whether a bronze of a cat is appropriate near the Capitol, where statues of historic figures like Chief Standing Bear stand.
I’ve got two words for the commission: “lighten up.”
Have a little fun once in a while. So what if Cameron’s work to greet hundreds of Capitol visitors and staff isn’t enough to get him into the state’s Hall of Fame.
He was a legendary figure at the seat of state governance. A friendly feline at the start, and end, of some long days in the Hall of Hot Winds.
Nebraskans, I wonder sometimes, don’t laugh at themselves enough.
Look at Wisconsin. “Cheeseheads” might have been a derogatory label, but real Cheeseheads in Wisconsin embraced the nickname and have fun with it.
How about the Chicago White Sox? They recently commemorated one of their most loyal fans, Pope Leo XIV (a Chicago native), by handing out White Sox emblazoned “Pope Hat” miters at a baseball game. How fun!
In North Dakota, but they embrace the extreme winters they get up there and proudly exclaim that it “keeps the riffraff out.”
But somehow, Cameron isn’t dignified enough to be bronzed near to the Capitol? One member of the Capitol Environs bunch even questioned if future generations would remember who Cameron was.
Give me a break. Visitors to the Capitol would flock to see a statue of Cameron, and a simple plaque would recount his accomplishments – just like plaques in the state’s Hall of Fame remind us who those people were.
(Quick: who was Nathan Gold? And Arthur Weimar Thompson? They’re both in the state Hall of Fame.)
Cameron, it must be pointed out, was completely nonpartisan in his affection. If you had a treat, or could scratch his back, you were his buddy.
I suppose that you can’t just allow any statue to be placed in the Capitol Environs.
But erecting a statue to remember Cameron would be a step toward not taking ourselves too seriously.
This month, the Capitol Environs Committee will meet again to decide whether to approve a monument for this mouser.
My advice: Have a little fun. Commemorate a unique and charming chapter of State Capitol history by reminding visitors of one cool cat.
Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He is a retired senior reporter for the Nebraska Examiner and the former Capitol Bureau Chief for the Omaha World-Herald. A native of Ralston, Nebraska, he loves traveling and writing about the state.
