A Sicamous resident grabbed the bear by the tail and succeeded in getting a plaque to recognize the Main Street mascot, Daisy the Bear.
At the April 24 Committee of the Whole meeting, council received a request from Diana Leduc asking that a plaque be made for the bear carving stating the artist’s name and date it was made, as well as the school that named it.
“The bear’s been there for quite awhile, and in 2022 it was named by the children of the District of Sicamous in the election,” deputy corporate officer Sarah Kyllo said, correcting that it was not done by a school but open to all local kids. “It was a mock election for the kids.”
It has since become a much loved symbol of Sicamous, with people dressing her according to the season – a daisy crown in summer, toque and scarf in winter.
Carved by local chainsaw artist Mike Ormondy, the bear sits out front of the property at 425 Main Street, the site of the new housing development that’s expected to get underway this summer. That begged the question of what to do with Daisy during construction.
“Daisy’s pretty nice there, she’s spent all her life there. That’s actually a tree, the stump and the roots, everything, so I don’t know you’re going to move Daisy,” Coun. Malcolm Makayev said. “I don’t know if we want to go to the expense of putting a plaque there and then poor Daisy gets moved.”
Mayor Colleen Anderson too looked at the logistics of moving the bear, and the dangers involved.
“What happens if Daisy doesn’t move… what happens if she doesn’t make it through the move?” she asked. “That’s a sad thing, but we need to talk about it.”
Coun. Gord Bushell, however, pointed out that it could probably be cut down and moved to hibernate somewhere safe during construction, then brought back after completion.
“I’m sure the developer wouldn’t mind putting it back as part of the landscape, anchor it in the landscape. And yeah, you could probably get a little plaque… for Miss Daisy.”
Makayev said a plaque is a nice idea, but suggested putting a cap on the amount spent. Operations manager estimated it would cost around a couple hundred dollars, so the committee approved having a plaque made with a price cap of $200.
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