Local monument comes back from the duck-tor good as new
The Mallard statue in Peterfield’s Mallard Park was a bit under the feather, so the Petersfield Community Club created the Mallard Duck Fundraising Committee and, with some help from the community, they fundraised enough to be able to repair the rusty spots and give the duck a nice new paint job.
“We want to thank the Petersfield volunteers … This community is one of the most generous with their time and effort. Now we’re able to get projects like this done. A couple of months ago, this duck did not look all that great. But today, it’s a huge improvement,” said Gary Alexander, head of the Mallard Duck Fundraising Committee, at the unveiling.
The duck statue was put up in Mallard Park in 1996 and represents the community’s history of duck hunting and the great number of mallards in particular in the marsh.
“People have been coming here hunting and fishing, American hunters came out in the 50s and 60s, and the Marsh was loaded with ducks at that time,” said Alexander
The damage to the duck which included rust stains was noticed a few years ago.
“It was quite concerning at the time because we worried about the rust and the infrastructure because of the fibreglass and there’s rebar in there,” said Alexander
The final repair was done by local artist Frank Megyesi, who is the same artist who did the restoration of the statue 17 years ago.
“It wasn’t waterlogged but there was water in it. We drained it. We fixed it then we had to paint,” said Megyesi.
He believes that these art pieces represent the people and their coming together.
Megyesi hopes that this repair will last at least as long as the last one.
The Mallard Duck Monument is not just important to people in Petersfield. It also has historical significance being listed by the Manitoba Historical Society under their Historic Sites of Manitoba. It is also part of several public sculptures made by local artist Wayne Arthur. His work can also be found at the Forks National Historic Site.
The statue is not only a historically resonant symbol in the community, however, but it also represents a community meeting spot with the Petersfield Community Club Mallard Park Outdoor Market taking place near the attraction every Saturday in the summer months.
The community club fundraised for this repair by holding meat draws every Friday night with support from the Petersfield Motor Hotel in addition to a Rib Night in April and saw a great amount of support.
Alexander said that he felt a lot of pride when he saw the final statue restored and encourages residents of Petersfield as well as those from out of town to stop by and check out the statue.
“Come by and see. The park is beautiful and the duck is kind of the signpost. People should stop in and visit the market. We have a market here every Saturday in the summertime and people have really talked about the improvements [to the duck] in the community. Everybody is so happy with the way that it looks. So yes, we would encourage people to drop by Petersfield.
What the statue looked like before restorations
Artist Frank Megyesi with the restored Mallard statue
Record Photos by Katelyn Boulanger
