Piper down: Village in New Brunswick wants giant sandpiper returned to pedestal
A new sculpture has been commissioned and a platform has been built -- but a New Brunswick village's oversized avian avatar has still not returned to its roost.
Standing 2.4 metres high and weighing 135 kilograms, the statue of a semipalmated sandpiper was once the pride of Dorchester.
Since 2001, Shep -- named after nearby Shepody Bay -- had pointed thousands of tourists and townsfolk to the mudflats of the Bay of Fundy, where the pint-sized shorebirds gather in late July in a pit stop on their flight from the Arctic to South America.
After the original wooden statue started to rot and had to be removed three years ago, local officials commissioned a $10,000 reincarnation made of steel, epoxy and fibreglass.
The result is now sitting in the workshop of artist Robin Hanson in French Lake, N.B., as municipal officials try to untangle what one former official said is "red tape" grounding the bird.
A recent municipal amalgamation has stalled payment for the sculpture.
"They invested in the platform, the steps and there's no bird," Kara Becker, the former deputy mayor of Dorchester, said with a laugh. "It actually looks terrible because, as you know, Dorchester has the prison there and it had a jail and it kind of looks like hanging gallows to me."
She said people in Dorchester are willing to raise funds for the statue.
The Dorchester village council commissioned Hanson to craft a replacement Shep, but on Jan. 1, the village was merged with Sackville and Pointe de Bute to form Tantramar. That meant Shep took a back seat.
Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who was mayor of Dorchester and is now a councillor for Tantramar, said she is "working diligently" and is hopeful Shep will be on its perch before the community's annual sandpiper festival in July. Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black did not return a request for comment.
The semipalmated sandpiper looks similar to a sparrow, weighing about 20 grams -- less than a handful of coins -- with a 30-centimetre wingspan to power its long trek. Starting in early July and peaking by mid-August, millions of these birds stop on the Fundy beaches to feed and double their weight before making the 2,500-kilometre journey to South America, said Nick Lund, a network manager for Maine Audubon.
Hanson said he is confident the problem will get resolved and Shep will take its rightful place. No stranger to oversized sculptures, he said that when making a statue that's many times the size of the real bird, he has to be careful, because every mistake is magnified.
"Look, that's why you measure not once, not twice, but probably about 10 times for everything you do," he said.
Once Shep is on display, it will join a host of other larger-than-life roadside monuments in the province, including Blowhard the Bony Horse in Cardwell, Lady Potato in Grand Falls, a giant axe in Nackawic, a lobster in Shediac, and Buttercup the Cow and Daisy the Calf in Sussex.
Keith Dewar, a tourism and hospitality professor from the University of New Brunswick, said New Brunswick is sometimes called a "pass through province" leading to more popular East Coast destinations, such as the urban centre of Halifax, Anne of Green Gables' house in Prince Edward Island or Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia.
Novelty attractions are one way that smaller communities can convince travellers to pull over, Dewar said. "If you have a big sandpiper, big lobster or something else -- people might stop and buy a coffee."
Wiggins-Colwell said the area's economy relies heavily on the tourism brought in by the sandpipers, both tiny and enormous.
After COVID-19 shut down tourism for two years, it's all the more vital to have Shep on a platform showing tourists the way to the semipalmated sandpipers.
"We have to celebrate that," she said. "(The statue) is a very good way of doing it. It's kind of an icon."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Thieves use stolen forklift to rip cash machine out of U.K. bank
Police in the U.K. are searching for a group of suspects seen on video using a forklift to steal a cash machine from a bank.
'There was a lot of black smoke': Crane operator sounds alarm while trapped during highrise fire in Halifax
A tower crane operator alerted emergency crews after noticing a fire on a construction site in Halifax Tuesday morning.