Someone decided the historic monument of a Langley farmer was missing something in this time of pandemic, and remedied the situation by putting a protective mask on of the statue at Glover Road and Duncan Way, in Langley City.
Carved in red cedar, the statue is one of several Langley landmarks created by famed wood sculptor, Pete Ryan, who was amused to hear about the mask.
“I don’t want him catching COVID,” Ryan chuckled.
It is standing where the City originally began, with a cluster of homesteads at the site of the famous Smugglers Trail which ran from Fort Langley to what was then known as Langley Prairie.
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It was one of several sculptures that Ryan, who lives in Hope, made in Langley City for various sponsors, at different locations, “about one a year for four or five years,” he estimated.
One was an image of Langley City’s first elected mayor Ernie Sendall.
Located in the park of same name, Sendall Gardens at 201 A Street and 50thAvenue., which featured the mayor’s trademark heavy-framed glasses, reminiscent of a certain famous singer.
“I called it Roy Orbison,” Ryan said.
Sendall served as mayor from 1955 to 1959.
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Ryan is also responsible for a carving of two men portaging a canoe which stands in the plaza in front of City hall, the library and Timms centre at the corner of 204th and Douglas Street, as well as the two figures who make the piece called “The Traders” who stand facing each other near the corner of Fraser Highway and Glover Road, and a classic car and driver located outside a car wash and oil change service on Fraser Highway, to name a few.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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