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Canadian Town Squabbles Over Beer-toting Sasquatch Statue
Canadian Press ^ | October 12, 2004

Posted on 10/13/2004 1:17:33 PM PDT by Shermy

VANCOUVER (CP) - While the people of Nelson, B.C. were busy arguing with U.S. veterans about proposals for a statue honouring American draft dodgers last month, 50 kilometres down Kootenay Lake, the town of Creston was having a similar battle.

There, the statue at issue is a three-metre bronze of a sasquatch carrying a case of beer. A case of made-in-B.C. Kokanee beer, to be precise.

A sasquatch is a mysterious, large ape-like creature reputed to roam the woods of North America. The legend is comparable to that of the Loch Ness monster or the abominable snowman.

"The town looked at it as an economic development," Mayor Joe Snopek said on Monday, adding it was decided the town could not proceed because, with a beer in its hand, the statue would be considered a business subsidy. Under the province's Municipal Act, that wouldn't be allowed, the mayor said.

Last month, nearby Nelson came under fire after plans were floated to erect a monument honouring American draft dodgers. The idea was axed by the city's mayor after the 2.4-million-strong Veterans of Foreign Wars appealed to U.S. President George Bush to get the statue quashed.

"It created some controversy," Snopek said of the sasquatch plans, adding the Nelson debate "took the pressure off the sasquatch for a while."

The town council had been ready to foot half the bill for the $40,000 bronze by Karl Lansing but after the ensuing uproar, a private contractor has agreed to foot the town's half, with the Columbia Brewing Co. picking up the rest.

The decision to go that route came after 500 people in the town of 5,000 signed a petition opposing the expense.

Snopek said the council was looking at the statue as a tourist attraction like the giant Easter egg in Vegreville, Alta., or the humongous hockey stick in Duncan, B.C.

"One of the local guys who works in the grocery store wanted the world's largest shopping cart," Snopek said.

"It got side-tracked," Snopek said. "(Some claimed) a sasquatch carrying a case of beer (would) turn all the kids into alcoholics."

Creston resident Laurel Ewashen did not see the sense in spending $20,000 on bronze, beer-toting sasquatch.

"My priority would be a pool or a library," she said.

Now, said Snopek, 50 small statues will also be cast and sold for $3,000 each. The proceeds of those sales will be donated to the town by the brewery.

"One of the petitions asked for the councillors to buy one each at $3,000 to show faith in this project " Snopek said.

The tales of the statue, however, have created some tension between Creston and Harrison Hot Springs in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, which also lays claim to being home of the creature.

"If you find the sasquatch up there, send him home to Harrison Hot Springs," Mayor John Allen told a Creston contingent at a recent Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: sasquatch
Here's the artist's web site.

http://www.karllansing.com/

No saquatches (yet) but lots of nice wildlife statuary.

1 posted on 10/13/2004 1:17:34 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: ambrose; Kenny Bunk; w_over_w; dighton; quidnunc; a_Turk; vannrox

Ping.


2 posted on 10/13/2004 1:18:51 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: Shermy

we have Paul Bunyan and the Hamms bear and they have Sasquatch...


3 posted on 10/13/2004 1:33:42 PM PDT by Rakkasan1 (Justice of the Piece:If Marx is your hero, Kerry is your candidate.)
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To: Shermy

I didn't know Janet Reno drank beer!


4 posted on 10/13/2004 1:37:36 PM PDT by Frank_Discussion (May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!)
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To: Rakkasan1

Sasquatch isn't just a B.C. thing. Sasquatch does not recognize international borders.


5 posted on 10/13/2004 1:54:25 PM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (In a dangerous world infested with sharks, Kerry would be chum at America's expense)
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To: Chad Fairbanks

Kerry and the one-worlders will be happy to support Sasquatch then.


6 posted on 10/13/2004 2:05:41 PM PDT by Rakkasan1 (Justice of the Piece:If Marx is your hero, Kerry is your candidate.)
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To: Shermy

Real sasquatch drink Labatt's.


7 posted on 10/13/2004 2:10:06 PM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Jefferson Davis - the first 'selected, not elected' president.)
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To: Shermy
Snopek said, "(Some claimed) a sasquatch carrying a case of beer (would) turn all the kids into alcoholics."

He continued, "A lot of kids look up to the big guy, he's kind of a role-model. That, and the complete lack of moral standards passed on by the parents of this town to their children made it clear that all the kids would, in fact, become alcoholics (like most of us up here), just by looking at the proposed statue".

8 posted on 10/13/2004 2:17:33 PM PDT by searchandrecovery (Socialist America - diseased and dysfunctional.)
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To: Shermy
The town council had been ready to foot half the bill for the $40,000 bronze by Karl Lansing but after the ensuing uproar, a private contractor has agreed to foot the town's half,

That is one contractor with a big foot.

9 posted on 10/13/2004 2:21:53 PM PDT by searchandrecovery (Socialist America - diseased and dysfunctional.)
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To: Non-Sequitur

ROFL.

Yeti has Molson's in his hand...mebbe he's not a bigfoot, but a moosehead. :)


10 posted on 10/13/2004 3:37:10 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: searchandrecovery

From the looks of the sasquatch, it could be argued that too much Kokanee beer makes one grow too large and get covered with long, coarse hair. ;)


11 posted on 10/13/2004 4:55:07 PM PDT by GladesGuru
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To: Shermy

12 posted on 10/13/2004 4:58:10 PM PDT by razorback-bert
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