THIS STATUE AND PLAQUE, which reads as above, is located by St. Thomas Aquinas church at the intersection of State 67 and Cty. A in Elkhart Lake. – Beacon photo by Ian Johanson

“This statue of the Sacred Heart was donated to St. George (now St. Thomas Aquinas) Parish by the Walter J. Brand Family in 1948 as an expression of gratitude for divine intervention. After spending Labor Day in Elkhart Lake, the family of five was driving home to Sheboygan when their car stalled on a set of railroad tracks. A freight train was approaching. The parents and two of the children escaped, but five-year-old Virginia wiggled loose from a parent’s grasp to grab a new doll that she had received as a birthday gift that very day. The train hit the car and pushed it down the tracks for the length of a city block before coming to a stop. The car was demolished, but Virginia and her doll were unscathed.”