The decapitated head of the old Wawa Goose is being kept in a secret locked room until the town decides what to do with it.
On Canada Day this year, Wawa unveiled the third iteration of the Wawa Goose after the second one was found to be rusted and deemed unsafe for the public.
Since then, the town’s Director of Community Services and Tourism Alex Patterson has been tasked with keeping the dismembered old goose safe.
Currently the head of the goose is kept in a locked room and the body lays in a pile of parts under a tarp in a fenced off area.
Patterson said he doesn’t want anyone to steal the iconic bird that had defined the town for 54 years.
The third iteration of the Wawa Goose sits at the entrance to the town near the Trans Canada Highway. The new version of popular tourist attraction has a different paint job and base. Jeff Klassen/SooToday“We want to do something special with that goose,” said Patterson. “It’s not going to the dump, it’s not going to be recycled… it’s meant to stay with the community.”
It’s not Patterson’s decision but he said some ideas are to put the head in the tourist centre by the new goose, give metal feathers out to large donors of the goose, and to melt it down and make coins or mini-goose statues.
“Personally, I don’t want to see it sold to tourists,” said Patterson.
The first Wawa Goose was made in 1960 through the efforts of local entrepreneur Al Turcotte.
That one was made of plaster and didn’t stand up to the harsh regional weather so in 1963 the town erected the second Wawa Goose which was made from coated Algoma steel.
In 2005, an inspection was made on the second goose and it became clear that at some point in the 42 years prior, moisture had gotten inside.
“Sooner or later that seal broke without anyone knowing about it and condensation and water built up inside the goose and rotted it from the inside out,” said Patterson.
The town installed a fan inside it to try and dry it out but they quickly realized it was ineffective strategy he said.
In 2008 the town strategized 10-year goose replacement plan.
“Either the body would collapse, or it would have tipped over, or a wing would fall off — something like that,” said Patterson.
Word of mouth got around they were taking the goose down on June 26 this year and locals brought lawn chairs to watch the bittersweet moment.
Some people cried.
“There were some people that lived in Wawa their whole lives and they were happy to see a new one (but also) sad to see the old one go,” he said.
It was the first time that many people in town got to see what the guts of the goose looked like as well as get a closer look at the damage that was caused.
“By the looks of it, the neck was made from stove pipe from the mine (and) there were bird nests in the wings,” he said.
Patterson said for the first time since 1963 the town was without a goose.
That night Canada had a goose-less Wawa for 12-14 hours until the new one went up the next day, although it was officially unveiled on Canada Day as a tribute to the country’s sesquicentennial.
The original Wawa Goose sits in the parking lot of Young's General Store in Wawa. Jeff Klassen/SooTodayPatterson was nervous about the unveiling of the new Goose.
Although the shape of the bird was very accurately modelled, they changed the colors to more accurately represent a real goose and the base dramatically changed to resemble a rock.
The new one is expected to last a long time because the frame is made of stainless steel and the shell is made of bronze.
Its designers said that it’s bronze exterior means it should last like ancient statues do, thousands of years.
Unlike the last goose, the new goose has a maintenance plan: every two years it will get a new wax coating and every 20-50 years it will be repainted.
Patterson said that the town is very happy to have been able to save the Wawa Goose.
“It’s the first thing people see when they come in and last thing they see when they leave…if people were not able to go up and take their picture with the goose that would have been a very unfortunate,” he said.
