A REASON TO BELIEVE
Bigfoot statue brings community national acclaim
WHITEHALL, N.Y. » Maybe Elvis has left the building, but Bigfoot still roams the hills around Whitehall.
Thousands of people have stopped to get an up-close look at the beast, since a 1,000-pound sculpture of it first appeared two weeks ago, outside a store on busy Route 4.
Paul Thompson, owner of Marble, Granite, Slate and Soapstone Company, had the statue done to attract local interest, after moving his firm to Whitehall from Castleton, Vt., a few months ago. Instead, Bigfoot has generated coast-tocoast publicity, with articles in major newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Seattle Times.
“Whitehall is a well-known national site for Bigfoot sightings,” Thompson said. “Even police have reported encounters with Bigfoot. People in the area are Bigfoot believers.”
One of them is sculptor Steve Mestyan, of Hampton, who fashioned the piece.
“Do I believe in it? Why not?” he said. “There’s a lot of things out there that are unexplained.”
Previously, he did an 11-foot, 8-inch tall statue of Bigfoot for a local golf course owner, who claimed to have seen him.
Shortly after Thompson moved his firm to Whitehall, he began selling a line of Bigfoot-
themed shirts and hoodies. Next, he started to make a tall silhouette-style sign of the creature, using plywood.
When Mestyan took notice, he offered to make something more realistic, so Thompson hired him for the project.
But instead of standing upright, Thompson wanted an action figure, to make it look like Bigfoot is ready to scamper across Route 4. Thompson’s store is on the east side of Whitehall, heading out of the village.
“Now people stop all day long to take pictures with him,” he said.
For the time being, Bigfoot is even wearing a colorful red Santa cap, which is sure to catch the eye of countless downstate skiers headed to Vermont during the holidays.
However, there’s also a poignant side to the story.
Mestyan, a retired state corrections officers, does sculptures in tribute to his late son, Steven Jr., who passed away three years ago, at 24, from a severe emphysema condition.
“He went to school for art,” Mestyan said. “The only thing that really helps me is working out in the shop, carrying on what he wanted to do. My pleasure is hearing all the attention Bigfoot is getting. It’s not about the money. It’s a good feeling when you can do something for someone.”
Previously, he made a steel eagle with a 15-foot wingspan for a client in Binghamton, and he’s currently working on a moose that will stand outside a restaurant in Granville.
The inside of Bigfoot is made of steel pipe and rebar, covered with 18-gauge sheet metal. For the hairylooking exterior, Mestyan used electric sheet-metal shears to cut strips, which he put down in layers.
“I didn’t know if it was going to fit through the garage door,” he said.
Mestyan used a forklift to load Bigfoot on a trailer, which arrived at Thompson’s business two weeks ago.
The response has been so overwhelming that Thompson, who specializes in stonework, plans to start selling flooring tile and outdoor patio stones, shaped like a Bigfoot footprint. With sandblasting, he also wants to put an embossed Bigfoot image on beer and coffee mugs, and pizza stones.
“When pizza comes out of the oven, it will have an Bigfoot imprint on the crust,” he said.
Maybe Thompson doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, but the more famous Bigfoot becomes, the harder it is to deny his existence.
There’s only one problem.
No one is sure how friendly Bigfoot is, and like the old saying goes, “Where there’s one ...”