Saskatchewan town unveils 15 foot tall Don Cherry statue

Legendary CBC broadcaster Don Cherry may no longer be on the air, but he's still in the hearts of many Canadians coast to coast.

The 90 year old former host of 'Coach's Corner' on CBC's long-standing Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts was forced into retirement in 2019 when he made controversial statements about Canadian immigrants. Since then he has popped up here and there, mostly online, with his takes on the NHL but he's mostly been enjoying retirement at home in Mississauga, Ontario. But in Mortlach, Saskatchewan the man they call Grapes is back in the spotlight.

Local Darren James has created a 15 foot tall wooden sculpture of Cherry with a 5 foot replica of Cherry's famous dog Blue.

Check it out:

“When I was putting on the finishing touches, all I could hear from the highway was honking horns,” said artist Darren Jones. “Everybody knows who Don Cherry is, and people love him.”

“We were looking to put something up that people would notice and maybe turn into to see the great artists’ works and support them, too,” said Mike Beaudoin, the driving force behind the project. “We knew it was his 90th birthday, and we thought Don Cherry and Blue would be perfect.” 

“We are not even near set up the way we hope to be soon, and already a couple of hundred people a day are stopping in,” he said. 

“The way we looked at it is Don Cherry was cancelled for being Don Cherry,” he said. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him.” 

The artist Jones is an oil rigger directional driller by day who pursues his passion for art during his free time. He was approached by Beaudoin for the project and jumped at the opportunity.