GRIFFITH | Talk about a send-off.

There will be 3,000 red, white and blue balloons, live bands, food and even a Ray Charles impersonator. All in honor of sending a gigantic replica of the Statue of Liberty from her Griffith home at Beryl Martin Co. to St. Louis, Mo.

This is no small ordeal.

UPS is transporting the 130-foot tall, 50,000 pound foam statue on what is described as the company's largest transportation job to date. Eighty trailers will form a two-mile long caravan that will wind its way from Beryl Martin at 1313 E. Main St. in Griffith to St. Louis.

The big move starts at noon Aug. 3 at the plant and the public is invited.

The caravan will head west on Main Street to U.S. 41 south to Terre Haute. It then heads to Interstate 70 west to St. Louis. A police escort will lead the 80-trailer caravan.

Craftsmen at Beryl Martin Co., a full-service design agency specializing in all aspects of creative development, were commissioned to do the work for YTB International Inc., an Internet travel firm in Wood River, Ill. Lady Liberty is scheduled to appear center stage in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis for the YTB National Convention.

Crews from Beryl Martin will have four days to reassemble Lady Liberty at the convention site. The replica was created in 8-foot sections.

"We felt like this being an election year, it would be a great time to be reminding people of our country, where we came from and the free enterprise system that Ms. Liberty represents," said Lloyd Tomer, chairman of the board of YTB.

Craftsmen spent a day on Ellis Island with the Statue of Liberty researching her for accuracy, said Frank Brummett, president of Beryl Martin.

Crews at Beryl Martin used a three-dimensional program that guides hot-wire wands through the Styrofoam-like material. It was fashioned on a steel frame and sprayed with plastic to make it weatherproof.

The statue will be unveiled Aug. 8. The opening ceremony is at 9 a.m. at the Edward Jones Dome.