Happy Rock is a

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. T ...

Gladstone, Manitoba Gladstone is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of WestLake – Gladstone within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is on the northeast side of

Highway 16 Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to: International * Asian Highway 16 * European route E16 * European route E016 Australia - Thompsons Road (Victoria) - South Australia Canada ;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway: *Yellowhead Hi ...

. The large statue also serves as the visitor

information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visit ...

for the town.

History

In the late 1970s, the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

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 A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, 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 ad ...

held a logo contest for the design of a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

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 is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. The population was 10,025 at the 2020 census. History Sparta is located on former Ho-Chunk territory acquired by the United States i ...

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

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, who decided to create Happy Rock out of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

. 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 1, 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 Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

stamp released on July 5, 2010.

References

{{reflist Tourist attractions in Manitoba Roadside attractions in Canada Buildings and structures completed in 1993 Monuments and memorials in Manitoba Parkland Region, Manitoba Buildings and structures in Westman Region, Manitoba