In each edition of A View to the Past, I aim to give readers additional insight into some of Airdrie's most beloved and recognized landmarks. Previous editions of the monthly history column have examined the origins of the Nose Creek Bridge to the Elevators, Airdrie’s decommissioned water tower, and the Gwacheon Park totem poles in Nose Creek Regional Park.
While these are all popular, in my opinion, there is no Airdrie landmark so remarked upon and beloved than Western Wayne – the 30-foot-tall cowboy statue located at the front of the Western RV dealership.
The cowboy statue is dressed in traditional western garb, including denim, chaps, cowboy boots and hat. In recent years, he has also donned a Calgary Flames jersey to truly demonstrate his western pride.
The statue is also accompanied by Wayne’s right-hand man, the rooster.
According to Brandon Urban, operations manager and part owner of Western RV, the statue has become a local icon over the last 20 years.
“As any city grows, the landmarks that have been fixtures in that city kind of grow with it,” he said. “You can look at any city – the Calgary Tower has been an iconic landmark in Calgary for many years – and although Airdrie has the water tower, it doesn’t have any other types of towers or iconic symbols.
“I’d argue that the cowboy, he’s right up there. He’d be in the top five.”
The cowboy’s visibility from the Queen Elizabeth II highway, along with its great stature, lends itself well to being considered one of Airdrie’s most recognized landmarks, but its unique history also plays a part in that.
Western Wayne was born in the early 1950s in Idaho in the United States. His original manufacturer is unknown, but according to Urban, Wayne originated in the Spokane Valley and was a fixture at the Spokane Interstate Fair from the first half of the 1950s to the early 1980s.
“He was on the fairgrounds down in Spokane for about 30 years,” Urban said. “Naturally, a 30-foot-tall cowboy, I’m sure he was the star of the show – he was a big part of the fair down in Idaho.”
In the early 1980s, the cowboy was sold to a westernwear store in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and stood out in front of the shop for approximately 20 years until the business shuttered in the late 1990s.
“[The store] was liquidating all of their assets and a friend of our family was down in Idaho and spotted the cowboy, Western Wayne, for sale,” Urban said. “[They] suggested it’d be a great iconic figure to be perched out front of Western RV.
“This was around the time when we were building the dealership in Airdrie and wanted to stand out, so we purchased Western Wayne in 2000 and he has stood out front of the dealership ever since then.”
Urban added the rooster figure came years later and has only been a fixture at Western RV for about 10 years, when it was purchased from a company overseas that specialized in constructing fun, larger-than-life figurines.
The RV dealership has since purchased other artifacts to adorn the inside and outside of the building, including large bear statues, a wooden Mercedes handcrafted in the Netherlands, a big motorbike, and a custom-made Shrek statue – all of which offer patrons a perfect Instagram opportunity.
The dealership is also home to an original stagecoach.
While all the additional figures add to the fun that can be experienced at Western RV, Western Wayne and his rooster are the real show-stoppers, according to Urban.
“I know tourists who come from overseas, families from all over the world who stop and get pictures with the cowboy because it symbolizes Alberta culture,” he said. “[Western Wayne] kind of fits with the cowboy stereotype of what they envision Alberta cowboys to be.
“It fits with our brand, and he’s been a great ambassador of the brand for many years now.”
Carmen Cundy, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @carmenrcundy
