Ashtabula and Ferdinand

The film starts in Akron, Ohio but I was still surprised to hear Madame Basilova say that a man put Bubbles "on a train in Ashtabula", a small city in Ohio about 50 miles northeast of Akron. this might have been meant as a statement of worry or anxiety as Ashtabula was the deadly site of a terrible bridge/train accident years earlier.

There has to be some story or hidden significance as to why the restaurant's theme on display behind the orchestra is a ridiculous statue of (perhaps) Ferdinand the bull? Plus a stuffed toy version was carried around by the two female leads, O'Hara and Ball.