Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Texas Willie Nelson statue unveiled at a fitting time

AUSTIN, Texas -- Country music legend Willie Nelson helped unveil a statue honouring him in downtown Austin by singing his new song Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die on Friday, a date long reserved to celebrate marijuana use.

The faint smell of marijuana smoke wafted through a crowd of about 2,000 people as Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell accepted the privately funded statue as a gift from a private arts group. Organizers said they didn't intentionally choose April 20 for the event, but once they found out, they scheduled the unveiling at 4:20 p.m. as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nelson's openness about his marijuana use and advocacy for its legalization.

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The statute stands in front of the Moody Theater, where the Austin City Limits Studio is now located.

 

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 21, 2012 A15

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