Wawa is known for its big goose, but after more than 50 years the town decided it was time to say goodbye to the old bird and bring in a new one.
It doesn’t matter if you're a tourist or a local, it seems like everyone is getting their picture taken in front of the new goose.
"It’s pretty awesome I really like it. It's huge,” said Kathy Schoonderwoerd, visiting Wawa from Stratford.
"Every community has to have something of their own,” added Bob Schoonderwoerd, also visiting Wawa from Stratford.
The old goose attracted tourists to Wawa for 53 years, but when the decision was made to get a new one, there was no pushback from the community.
"I've brought company out to see the goose and you could see the rust spots,” said Carol Karauskopf, a Wawa resident.
“It just looked old.”
The new goose came with a price tag of $280,000; with about $200,000 coming from the government and $100,000 raised locally from donations.
Algoma Power kicked in about half of that total.
"Without a goose here, it would leave our community very empty in so many ways,” said Ron Rody, Wawa mayor.
“There's tremendous civic pride in the goose."
The new version is actually the third Wawa goose.
The first one went up in 1960 to mark the Trans-Canada coming through, before a new and more permanent goose went up in 1962. It stood until this week,
So, what happens to the old bird? Well, the mayor told CTV the town has some options; including selling it or breaking it down and giving pieces of the old bird to donors who helped fund the new one.
