Look there, by Main Street!
It’s a landmark!
It’s a two-legged billboard!
It’s a
wedding photo fixture!
It’s a jungle gym!
It’s a parade float!
No, it’s just . .
. A giant, indestructible chicken.
Since before most Watertonians can remember,
there has been a large barnyard fowl standing proudly alongside Main Street.
Before it was there it was on top of a gas station roof along Highway 26. Where
it came from before that is anyone’s guess, but it has become a permanent
fixture; a curiosity for residents and visitors alike. It has served many
purposes along the way.
Landmark
One of the first directions you hear while
looking for a specific location may be something like ‘Drive past the giant
chicken, and then in about two blocks you’ll see a street named such-and-such.
Turn right and then. . .’ It’s easy to use as a locator, as it is one of those
things people say ‘you just can’t miss.’
Whether because of sheer size or some
other immeasurable factor, it has developed into a popular attraction. It came
as a gimmick and remains as a personality in its own right.
The chicken took an
indirect route to celebrity. In 2001 the chicken was living on the roof outside
Bob Schaffer’s gas station on Highway 26. It was a sort of ‘chick magnet’ for
the fish fries they had and the roasted chicken they served. “It was on that
roof for years and years” Glenn said. “People would say ‘Oh Watertown, that’s
where that chicken is on Highway 26.’ It was a landmark.” When the gas station
discontinued the specialty items, Glenn saw an opportunity to obtain a
curiosity.
Two Legged Billboard
Glenn called and asked Bob about the chicken,
but the chicken had already been promised to someone. A few weeks later, Glenn
recalls, “He calls me up and says ‘This is Schaffer here. You want that
chicken?’ I said ‘Yeah!’ He said ‘OK’ and hung up. That was it! About 6 weeks
later he calls me back and said ‘Are you going to be around today? That chicken
is coming over.’” It arrived a few hours later, riding proudly on the back of a
truck.
Jeff, Glenn’s son, reminisced, “I believe in the beginning it was
supposed to be on the building, but I think Glenn decided that was too hard.” So
the chicken took up residence outside the store, where it has remained for seven
years and counting.
At first the Market didn’t know if they would be able to get
the city’s permission to keep their new pet. Jeff explained “Some people think
of it as a sign, and the city restricts how tall [signs] can be, how far from
the road they can be, how close to a building they can be . . .” But it was
decided the giant lawn ornament could stay. Thus it remains: a huge, harmless,
decorative poultry.
It has not just stood idly. It developed into its own unique
character and became not just a landmark, but a magnet, drawing people to the
business.
As the charisma and popularity of the chicken—which remains nameless
to this day—grew, so did Glenn’s business. Glenn said, “You’d be amazed during
the summer time how many [people] are around. They take pictures of the chicken.
It’s advertising. That’s why I wanted it. The kids go by and they say ‘Oh yeah,
that’s where the chicken is. Glenn’s Market.’ I don’t care how it works out.
Glenn’s Market is where the chicken is, and everyone knows it . . . it’s all the
chicken.”
Yes, it really is all about the chicken.
Additions to the Family
After
a while Glenn decided the lone poultry sentinel needed companionship—which of
course would double as additional advertising.
The chicken definitely came
first, but the steer came second. Some people can’t tell which giant lawn
decoration is the steer and which is the cow, but Jeff says the steer can be
distinguished as “basically the big, wide cow.” The steer used to reside over at
Tom’s United Food grocery store, only a couple blocks away from Glenn’s Market.
One day Tom called and told Glenn he was switching brands of meat and wanted to
get rid of the steer. Glenn said, “We’ll take it, sure.” Tom said he would be
away on business, but they could just come over and pick it up at their
convenience.
When Glenn, Jeff and some others went to pick up the steer, they
pulled up to the store in a van, got out a ladder and were about halfway through
unbolting the steer from its perch when a grocery store worker came out. She
asked “Are you guys taking the cow?”
Without even pausing they replied “Mmm,
yeah” and she just turned around and went back inside. Jeff laughed as he
remembered the experience. “She never said anything, never questioned where we
were going with the cow or anything. It was a little bit weird, but we just put
the cow in the van and brought it here.”
After all the drama associated with
obtaining the first two animals, the next two were pretty easy. “We went and
bought the cow and the pig,” said Glenn. “Now I’m looking for a lamb, but I
haven’t been able to find one.” Although there is a size discrepancy, it is not
intentional. “That’s about all we could find in that size,” said Glenn. They
just don’t make giant animals like they used to.
The chicken towers over the
other animals, both in size and in popularity. Although the other animals enjoy
basking in the spotlight, the chicken is the big draw.
Jeff expounded on the
extent of attraction to the chicken. “Sometimes wedding parties, people like
that, come and visit him to take pictures . . . All sorts of people. My
brother-in-law was actually trying to get on the pig after his wedding, but we
started to hear some cracking, so we decided that probably wouldn’t be the best
idea, so he got off. We’ll let the little kids do that.”
Jungle Gym
The animals
have all been climbed on and knocked over—or at least had attempts made to do
so. The smaller animals had continuous problems with ‘tipping. ’ Jeff says
“After many tries of tipping it over we improved the process over and over
again. The first problem was they got tipped over, so we bolted them down. Then
the bolts came loose . . . so we decided OK fine. We sunk two-by-fours into the
ground, and then they got pulled all the way up. Then we poured concrete and
instead of them tipping the concrete they actually broke the legs off the cow so
that’s when we decided to use foam.” They filled the smaller animals with a sort
of foam to keep the two-by-fours in place and to keep them from breaking. The
chicken needed no such surgery, because even though it is the oldest—easily 45
years old—it is also the sturdiest. The fiberglass is so thick “it’ll probably
never break,” said Glenn.
While the chicken has not had the ignominy of being
tipped (no-one has been able—or foolish—enough) it has borne many decorations.
Jeff elaborates, “There’s all sorts of decorations. We have a Christmas
decoration thing, almost like a bib, really. I guess maybe more of a shawl . . .
Saint Patty’s Day has a hat—well, one of them has a hat. For Easter there’s a
plastic egg. We can’t really attach it to the chicken, it just sits there.”
No-one has ever taken any of the decorations, perhaps out of respect or awe of
the chicken. The respect doesn’t stop people from trying to climb the chicken,
however. It is difficult—even with a ladder, there is quite a gap to jump—but it
has been done. Jeff doesn’t know ‘What possesses [people] to ride the chicken!?”
but ride it they do. The chicken’s position as a jungle gym also led to it being
a word of warning for one Watertonian.
Conscience
Jennifer Adam remembers
hearing about a girl who was trying to climb the rooster with a group of friends
after dark—whether for a dare, as a photo opportunity, or for some personal
reason is unclear—when she fell off and injured her foot. She was on crutches
for quite a while. Dr. Jaspers, the president of Maranatha at the time, used the
story in a speech as an example of what not to do.
Jennifer had always been a
bit of a free spirit, so her family took the story to heart as a way to remind
her of what consequences can befall those who try to walk the thinnest line
possible between good and not-so-good. After that, she remembers, “anytime that
I wanted to do something that was not specifically illegal . . . but not looked
upon as good, my Dad would remind me ‘not to climb the rooster!’” It became
their trademark phrase and inside joke.
The chicken is famous to many people for
many reasons. For some like Jennifer the chicken has a personal meaning. Others
just know it as a celebrity-type figure. As such, it even made a public trip
though town as a parade attraction. Unlike a human celebrity it did not wave,
but it did make a scene.
Celebrity
The chicken is enough of a character to warrant an appearance in the Watertown
parade. “One year I put it on the trailer and we drove in the Fourth of July
parade, and my daughter rode on it,” Glenn said. The night before the parade
Glenn walked the entire parade route with a pole to make sure the chicken’s head
would clear the telephone wires and any other possible obstructive hazards. “I
didn’t catch any, but right before D Avenue, right at the end [the chicken]
almost ripped a wire off a house. But that was it.”
The chicken doesn’t take many trips anymore. Instead, the public
comes to it. Some come to take pictures, others come to climb, still others just
come for the good food in the building beyond. But whatever the reason, the
chicken has established itself as a sight to be seen.
The chicken has worn many
hats—literally and figuratively. It has seen its share of hard times. It has
watched citizens come and go and drive by on their way to weddings and
workplaces and homes and far-off destinations. It has seen summer cookouts and
record snowfalls. It has been climbed, photographed and paraded through town. It
has worn many hats—literally and figuratively—and served as a directional aid,
advertising, a photo prop, climbing wall and many other things.
If only we could
know what it thinks of it all.
by Melanie Killingsworth