“To pass my test.” “To ace my job interview.” “To win the big game.” These are a few examples of what people wish as they add to the shine of the burnished toe of the Daniel Boone statue on Eastern’s Richmond campus. The bronze statue began guarding the Keen Johnson Building in May 1967, and the tradition of rubbing the left toe of Kentucky’s best-known frontiersman began shortly after, specifically said to better the chances of a student doing well on college exams.
TRADITIONS THAT UNITE US Over the past 50 years, thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors have deposited their wishes at the base of the nine-foot statue, a replica of the sculpture Louisville native Enid Yandell made for the 1893 World’s Fair. Fess Parker, who portrayed Daniel Boone in a television series from 1964 to 1970, even stopped by when he came to Eastern in 1968 to receive an honorary degree. As the legend grew, so did the range of requests heaped on Daniel’s toe. Since at least the early ’80s, members of the EKU Marching Band — or Marching Maroons as they were then known — have filed by one at a time on the way from the band room to Roy Kidd Stadium to improve the chances of a successful performance, recalled Amy Wolfford Washburn, ’86, of Greensboro, North Carolina. “Some years it worked better than others,” she noted with a smile. “Good memories.”
Student rubbing Daniel Boone’s toe, 1967. Band members rub the toe before a game, Sept. 8, 2016. Actor Fess Parker, who played Daniel Boone in the show of the same name, 1968. Photos courtesy EKU Special Collections & Archives.
30 SPRING 2017