Mary Beal of Janesville has one message for the company painting the Oasis cow: Don't mess with a classic.
"She's part of a tradition," Beal, 51, said. "We can't have a blue or a green-and-gold cow going up, can we?"
Beal is well-acquainted with the cow that until recently stood in front of the former Oasis Restaurant and Motel on Milton Avenue near Interstate 90/39. She drove past it every day on her way to and from work in Whitewater.
The cow was removed as workers construct a new development there.
The cow will get a new coat of paint from Utzig CARSTAR in Janesville before returning to public view in November or later.
Mary Beal
Beal was appalled when she heard owner Al Utzig tell WCLO Radio he was considering painting the cow according to a theme, such as seasonal or team colors. So she e-mailed the station to announce she was starting a "Paint the Cow a Natural Cow Color" campaign.
"As Wisconsin is the cheese- and milk-producing capital of the world-ignore those libelous claims of California-I would like to see our cow repainted in a manner that reflects the rich dairy history of our state," she wrote.
Utzig told The Janesville Gazette he hasn't gotten much reaction about the cow, but he doesn't want to upset the residents or the cow's owners, who make up the development group BLM Land.
"The people who own the cow consider it to be property of the city of Janesville, so I wouldn't want to do anything that they don't like," he said.
Right now, Utzig is leaning toward keeping the cow the same or painting it a different breed. But he thinks the various shades of brown on the cow now look better than a black and white cow would.
Meanwhile, Beal doesn't expect to do much else with her campaign, although-if asked-she'd vote to paint the cow Guernsey or Holstein colors, she said.
"I would hope we will repaint our city cow in a manner befitting the grand dame that she is," she wrote.
