Lovely Lacombe (part two)
When we first drove into the city of Lacombe I pulled over because I saw these interesting carvings inside of a playground.
“Tree sculptor Darren Jones from Ponoka, Alta., sees a valuable raw material concealing beauty within. With planning and imagination, combined with long-practised chainsaw skills, he reveals a new look for dead wood.
“When you put your talents together with someone’s vision it’s an interesting challenge,” he said.
Jones’s most recent work was commissioned by the City of Lacombe and sits in Popow’s Park, a green space with playground equipment.
He completed a 15-foot-tall sculpture last fall. It celebrates the fantasy and enjoyment of reading and imagination, with its tower of books, woodland animals and mythical creatures, at the top of which perches Sarwan, a long-tailed, caped dragon. The name Sarwan, meaning explorer, was selected from a draw of names submitted through the city’s Facebook page.
Attached seating near the tree’s base welcomes youngsters who prefer to immerse themselves in adventures on the page rather than on the playground.
Just a few yards away stands the Wizard, another work of art created a couple years ago via Jones’s chainsaw magic.” (The Western Producer)
Wouldn’t it be great if more cities could turn their dead wood into beautiful sculptures like this?
The first building I noticed as we entered the city was the historic “Flatiron” building which has been restored to its former glory. Lacombe has this wonderful historic main street which completely adds to the charm of the city.
The one other time we visited Lacombe we had a really nice lunch at Cilantro’s and then we went to a delightful antique store (which is no longer there. )
The main street has wonderful appeal and I really enjoyed walking around and taking photographs.
There are almost 14,000 people in the city and it has a wonderful, small town feel to it. Of course, we took some time to find a park in which to play Tile Rummy. The sun was actually hot but it felt so good on our skin. We also saw a fence near a school that did the same thing as the school near our house in Edmonton. They decorated their fence with original art!
If you live in Alberta and are looking for a nice day trip…..go to Lacombe!