Flocking to get a gander at big bird
Canada Day in Wawa means one honking big party to welcome arrival of Goose III
WAWA, ONT.— The giant honking Canada Goose in Wawa that has quietly greeted countless travellers for more than five decades is set to fly its concrete roost ahead of the formal arrival of a replacement on Canada Day.
Hundreds of townsfolk and dignitaries are expected to be on hand for the lifting of a parachute shroud that will mark the unveiling of fowl’s latest incarnation.
“It’s our identity, so it’s been important for us,” said Chris Wray, Wawa’s chief administrative officer.
Although everyone already knows what Goose III will look like, excitement is mounting in the town, which plans an array of festivities to mark the occasion, including drummers and a performance by Fred Eaglesmith, the alternative country singer-songwriter known for songs about the quirky folk of rural Canada.
The new bird — essentially a clone of its immediate predecessor — was made of stainless steel in Trenton based on detailed drawings of the older one, at a cost of about $300,000. It’s about 8.5 metres tall with a wingspan of about six metres and comes in pieces that are to be assembled on site on a refurbished plinth.
“We’re hoping that they’re going to be able to put most of it together under the parachute so that we don’t ruin the big reveal,” Wray said.
The popular goose, visited by about 50,000 people a year, has appeared on a Canada Post stamp, inspired the song “Little Wawa,” and appeared in the Hollywood movie Snowcake. It was the brainchild of local businessman Al Turcott, the prime mover behind “Operation Michipicoten” in the early 1950s.
That scheme involved recruiting four young men to trek through the bush to Montreal River — pretending to get lost along the way — to press home to governments the need to fill in a missing stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway. When the highway was completed almost a de- cade later, Turcott realized passing motorists would need a reason to make the turn into the town, whose name in Ojibwe means “wild goose.”
Skeptical townsfolk were pretty sure Turcott would end up with egg on his face. History shows he didn’t.
Made of plaster-and-mesh, Goose I was erected in time for the opening of the nearby highway on Sept. 17, 1960. Within a couple of years, it was in such poor condition, the story goes, residents awoke one morning to finds parts scattered around. Much fuss and feathers ensued. A search for a successor began.
One of those expecting to be on hand for the unveiling is Ken Lee, 83, of B.C.’s Salt Spring Island, who stood next to the original metal bird at the opening of the Trans-Canada back in 1960. As a Wawa councillor, Lee brought forth his wife’s idea of a contest — with a $50 prize — for a design for Goose II. Council went for it.
Dick van der Cliff, a Dutch ironworker, was the winner — his scale model still adorns council chambers. Council paid $5,000 for the big bird. Van der Cliff ran out of money but council refused to cough up more. “It was a real bargain,” Lee said. Goose I, badly in need of a spruce in the form of paint, now perches quietly beside Young’s General Store, a little more than a kilometre from Goose II. Owner Anita Young gave the original big bird a home in 2001.
Like Goose I, Goose II will live on — in some form. Pieces, such as the head and a few intact feathers, will go to large donors. Other bits might be turned into stamped miniatures and sold, with a certificate of authenticity. Money raised would go toward maintenance of Goose III, which is expected to last at least 50 years.
In recognition of the bird’s importance, both the federal and provincial governments kicked in about twothirds of its cost.