Happy Rock is a roadside attraction in Gladstone, Manitoba

Gladstone, Manitoba

Gladstone is a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with Highway 34 within the boundaries of the Rural Municipality of Westbourne...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is on the Northeast side of Highway 16. The large statue also serves as the visitor information centre

Information centre

An information centre is a center designed specifically for storing, processing, and retrieving information for dissemination at regular intervals, on demand or selectively, according to express needs of users.-Examples:...

 for the town.

History

In the late 1970s, the provincial government met with local community representatives to try to find a method of increasing tourism in Gladstone. Since Gladstone was also referred to as "Happy Rock" they decided that it would be a good idea to create something that would symbolize this.

In 1984, the local Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 held a logo contest for the design of a mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 that would represent Happy Rock. The winning entry, submitted by Jerry Wickstead, depicted a literal black and white Happy Rock with a towel in its left hand while its right hand was waving. By 1988, the Chamber decided to pursue a construction of this figure as a statue and visitor information centre.

Fundraising for this project was held between 1991 and 1993. Volunteers held two bingo events, the Chamber held two banquet dinners, and the committee held three cash prize draws. The Community Places Grant Program also provided funding of up to 25% of the total project cost.

The F.A.S.T. Corporation from Sparta, Wisconsin

Sparta, Wisconsin

Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. The population was 9,522 at the 2010 census.-Notable people:*William Hawley Atwell, U.S. District Court Judge in Texas*Larry Baumel, NASCAR...

 was chosen to manufacture the design of Happy Rock from the blueprints prepared by architects from Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, who decided to create Happy Rock out of fibreglass. The construction took around four months to complete and was finished in 1993. The cost of the project was nearly $92,000. When Happy Rock was finished, its total height was 36 feet (11 metres) and weighed around 3,000 pounds (approximately 1400 kilograms).

On July 1st, 1993, Happy Rock was officially opened. It is now the symbol of the rural community and an integral part of the tourism in Gladstone.

Happy Rock was depicted on a Canada Post

Canada Post

Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...

stamp released on July 5, 2010.