FREDERICTON — A giant bird sculpture that once presided over a small New Brunswick village is back on its perch, and the former deputy mayor says the avian avatar looks happy to be home.
The sculpture of the semipalmated sandpiper dubbed Shep was the pride of Dorchester for nearly two decades before the original wooden statue started to rot three years ago.
Local officials commissioned a New Brunswick artist to build a replacement made of more durable materials, but struggled to bring it to town after the village was absorbed into a new municipality and payment was stalled.
Dorchester's former deputy mayor Kara Becker now says the new sculpture is in place after an organization came forward to pay the artist his nearly $10,000 fee.
A troop of three tied the new version of Shep to the back of a white truck and brought the big bird home on Saturday afternoon.
Becker says she thinks the bird looks colourful, plump and ready for the village's annual Sandpiper Festival this July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2023.
The Canadian Press
