Existing comment:
The Sonny Bono Memorial Park is located near Dupont Circle. The fenced-in park covers about 800 square feet, overlaid with Kentucky bluegrass, dotted with stone benches and accented by a seven-foot Japanese maple. The plaque reads "IN MEMORY OF MY FRIEND SONNY BONO 1935-1998; ENTERTAINER; ENTREPRENEUR; STATESMAN; FRIEND."
Sonny died in a skiing accident in 1998 and his friend Geary Simon paid $25,000 to set up a memorial to the Republic Congressman from Palm Springs. Underneath the plaque is a vault containing the sheet music for "The Beat Goes On," a coffee mug from Sonny's Italian restaurant, his official congressional cufflinks and memorabilia from his various political campaigns. |