The Hanrahan family has donated their Nipper statue to Bayada’s Main Street location.
There’s about to be a new dog in town — a Nipper dog to be exact. A sweater-adorned Nipper dog is joining the pack along Main Street, as BAYADA Home Health Care is receiving the Hanrahan family’s “The Gentleman” Nipper statue.
Brian Hanrahan said he was living in Moorestown in 2005 when the town put on a public art project themed around RCA’s mascot, the Nipper dog. The Moorestown Community House, the Evergreens, the Historical Society of Moorestown, the Lutheran Home at Moorestown and the Perkins Center of the Arts sponsored the creation of 30 fiberglass Nipper statues decorated by local artists, which were subsequently sold at a charitable auction.
Hanrahan said, at the time, his family was restoring their Moorestown home and thought a Nipper statue would be a perfect addition to the pub-style theme Hanrahan had in mind for one of the rooms. He said when he saw “The Gentleman” Nipper, he knew that was the one.
While Hanrahan ultimately did not get the pub room in his house, he did get the Nipper. At the auction, Hanrahan outbid the other interested parties. He said he doesn’t quite recall what he paid, but he thinks it was around $4,000. He said the family positioned the statue in their backyard.
In 2008, Hanrahan’s work transferred the family to Tampa, Fla., and they took the statue with them.
“We valued that Nipper so much that we wanted a piece of Moorestown to go with us,” Hanrahan said.
The family placed the statue in the pool area of their home as a reminder of their time in Moorestown. He said it became something of a conversation piece, and when neighbors would see the statue, they would inquire about the dog.
Recently, Brian and Jodie’s two sons, Connor and Brayden, left for school, so the Hanrahans decided to move to a townhome closer to their sons’ private school. Hanrahan said the new home doesn’t have room for the five-foot statue, so they decided as a family they wanted to find a way to give the statue back to the Moorestown community.
“It’s a piece of the history and the culture of Moorestown,” Hanrahan said. “It made sense to give it back and let other people enjoy it as we do.”
So, Hanrahan turned to his friends Mark Baiada and Janice Baiada Lovequist of the Bayada Foundation. He said he had recently learned Baida was taking Bayada from a for-profit to a nonprofit business, and so he asked his friend if he could donate the Nipper to their business.
Through corporate connections, Hanrahan brokered a deal with a company who was willing to transport the Nipper from Florida to New Jersey. On April 11, Hanrahan boxed up the Nipper for its journey to its new location on Main Street.
“We’re truly still connected to that town,” Hanrahan said. “We want our friends and our family that are up in that area to enjoy it.”
Hanrahan said the Nipper’s artist, Gisela Bly, passed away in October, but artists from the Burlington County Art Guild will touch up the piece that has experienced slight weathering from the Florida sun. He said the foundation will collaboratively touch up the piece and seal it to bring the statue back to its former glory.
“It’s really a labor of love to get the Gentleman Nipper back to Moorestown for the community to enjoy,” Hanrahan said.
