The first of three signs welcoming people to Thornhill is under construction but completion has been delayed because of the recent cold weather, says project organizer Ted Ramsey, who is also the Thornhill director with the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine
“We just need a week of warm weather… so the concrete base can cure (and the wood sign can be finished),” he said.
Financed by private donations and contributions in-kind from businesses, this first sign is an 8 x 11-foot masterpiece depicting an old-time logger leading a team of draft horses.
Made of cypress wood to last, the sign is being carved by Thornhill resident Joerg Jung of JJ’s Wood Art.
That sign will be mounted on a concrete and stone base, donated by Skeena Concrete, and put on Hwy16 on the east side of Thornhill where a prior ‘Welcome to Terrace’ sign stood.
A controversy sparked late last fall about that sign because while it borders Thornhill. it welcomes people to Terrace with no mention of the smaller rural community.
Bob Erb, a Thornhill resident who donated $10,000 toward the sign, said he is in full support of Ramsey and the new sign, which recognizes the individual identity of Thornhill.
There are dozens of small communities across Canada with their own signs and identities, Erb said, pointing out that sign identify Telkwa just east of Smithers on Hwy16, Rutland outside of Kelowna, and Burnaby outside of Vancouver.
“All of these communities have individual identities,” he said, “and so does Thornhill. The people living there are happy and want to be recognized for our community,” Erb emphasized.
“It’s not as though it’s an unusual situation here in Thornhill. It was unusual that we had a ‘Welcome to Terrace’ sign when you come into Thornhill. That’s what was unusual.”
After the controversy last fall, the Terrace sign was removed with Ramsey then beginning the project to replace it with a ‘Welcome to Thornhill’ sign by the end of December.
But the recent cold weather and a bout of sickness delayed the project. Cold weather means they can’t finish the ornamental stone on the base, because temperatures inhibit it from curing properly. It also delays the wood sign’s drying and finishing.
Having partly dried in Jung’s shop, the sign has already shrunk half a foot, he said. He started on the sign after his cold passed, but he’s now dealing with allergies to cypress, a richly scented and somewhat oily wood which affects his skin and lungs. He wears a mask in the shop.
The first sign which depicts the draft horses is meant to draw attention to the annual heavy horse pull at the Thornhill Community Grounds, and to the Skeena Valley Fall Fair.
“It’s pretty close to the fair grounds and there’s the heavy horse pull there every year,” said Jung, adding that the sign’s historic logger also pays tribute to the logging industry and history of Thornhill.
“Back in the old days there must have been plenty of these horse teams pulling big logs out of the woods to get the riverboats supplied (with fuel for their engines),” he said.
Still now, “so much locally is based on logging – in Terrace, Thornhill, the whole area,” he said. “I think it will fit the area.”
Jung wants to finish the sign as soon as possible but his focus is quality more than speed.
A different design will be incorporated into each of the signs and be appropriate to the location where they will be installed.
A riverboat, for example, will be on a sign to be placed on Hwy16 between the bridges crossing the Skeena River and the four-way stop at Hwy16/Hwy37. That’s roughly the border of Terrace and Thornhill and will welcome motorists heading east out of Terrace.
The third sign will be placed on Hwy37 South near the Northwest Regional Airport.
Jung says he loves the project, where he can display his chainsaw carvings for motorists travelling along the local highways.
“I get the chance to show what I’m capable of with my chainsaws,” he said. “It’s the type of job I really like the best, because exposure - you can’t beat it.”
Ramsey says a number of local businesses and residents have expressed support and taken on the project.
Depending on Jung’s work season, the plan is to get the three new signs up by the end of the year.