WESTPORT -- Although she painstakingly restored Westport's Minuteman statue to pristine condition a few years ago, Linda Merk-Gould surprisingly was unaware of the local landmark's most famous moment on May 6, 1957.

On that night, on millions of television screens nationwide, the figure of a colonial militiaman had a central role in the last half-hour episode of "I Love Lucy," the phenomenally successful sitcom that forever revolutionized American television.

In typical madcap style, Lucy Ricardo accidentally destroys the statue -- which her bandleader husband Ricky was to dedicate. Lucy then unsuccessfully tries to stand in for the shattered memorial to -- a tableau of a colonist taking aim with his musket -- that in real life stands on Compo Road South.

"I Love Lucy" premiered Oct. 15, 1951, on the CBS television network. For six years, every Monday night at 9, TV sets across America tuned in to catch the escapades of Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball), her bandleader husband Ricky (Ball's real-life husband Desi Arnaz), and their best friends Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley and Vivian Vance).

In the final season of "I Love Lucy," the Ricardos (and, of course, the Mertzes) move from New York City to Westport -- just as one of the comedy series writers, Bob Weiskopf, had done after his son was born.

In the 10 episodes based in Westport, Lucy wreaks hilarious havoc in town with her neighbors and all the staid suburban organizations she joins, from the garden club ("Lucy Raises Tulips") to the country club.

References to Westport's Main Street and Boston Post Road are highlighted throughout the last season of "I Love Lucy," especially when Lucy literally slices through town, riding an out-of-control lawnmower.

In the show's finale, "The Ricardos Dedicate a Statue," Lucy destroys a statue -- clearly inspired by Westport's Minuteman statue, a memorial to the local forces who took on the British in the Battle of Compo -- just an hour before its dedication.

"My favorite line is, Oh Ethel, what are we going to do? They'll throw me out of the Historical Society!' " laughs Alice Shelton, the Westport Historical Society's education director, and also a member of the town's Representative Town Meeting. "I can't imagine the Westport Historical Society ever throwing out Lucille Ball," Shelton said. "I asked the president of the society if we really would have and she said, Well, it depends on what she did.' "

Merk-Gould, who serves on Westport's Board of Education, admitted that she never realized the Ricardos had put down roots in Westport, at least for dramatic purposes. "I heard that Lucille Ball had lived in Greenwich, but I didn't know of any connection with Westport," she said.

At the Westport Historical Society, Shelton, who grew up watching "I Love Lucy" reruns, pays homage to celluloid Westporters Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.

Shelton leads a summer children's camp called "Time Travelers," which ends with a viewing of America's favorite redhead pretending to be the Minuteman statue. The show's finale is a big hit with the Time Travelers.

"The students had fun guessing which parts of the story were historically accurate," Shelton said. "It's cute, it's lighthearted and some things are real." She said the final "Lucy" episode proves that learning about history can be fun. "And what could be more fun than Lucy?" she said.