Northern Ontario roadside attraction facing chopping block
Guy-Paul Treefall’ is a 20-foot lumberjack situated on Highway 11, near the entrance to the town centre in Iroquois Falls. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)
From CTV News: A roadside attraction in Iroquois featuring a lumberjack may be on the chopping block.
Within the next couple of weeks, the town’s council will decide whether to spruce it up or send it to the landfill.
Guy-Paul Treefall has been greeting travellers on Highway 11 for the past 15 years and officials said it is due for some touchups.
A sign of the times
The Grace’s Furniture sign in Logan Square. Vintage business signs have become beloved community landmarks. Credit: Shira Friedman-Parks
From the Chicago Reader: For decades, the Bridgeport Restaurant sat at the corner of 35th Street and Halsted, its bold red sign hugging the building, serving as an unofficial welcome to the neighborhood. Since the owners retired in 2022, the restaurant sat empty, but the sign persisted.
Fitted with chrome accents and adorned with marquee lights, it featured “Bridgeport” in swooping cursive and “Restaurant” in bold block lettering, once illuminated by neon. Its concave rectangles advertised fountain drinks, pancakes, malts, steaks, and chops.
Mr. Boh will blink at Baltimore’s skyline with new National Bohemian sign
View of the Natty Boh Tower in Baltimore. Mr. Boh will soon reappear in the city’s skyline. (Jon Bilous/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
From The Baltimore Banner: Nature is healing. River otters have been spotted in the Inner Harbor. Dolphins are returning to Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Boh will soon reappear in the city’s skyline.
After more than two years since the Brewers Hill sign stopped functioning, National Bohemian will unveil a new, more environmentally friendly Mr. Boh on Sept. 25, according to a press release.
I wasn’t fully ingrained in the city at the time, but my longtime Baltimore resident co-workers said Mr. Boh used to be neon and used to blink. Sometime in the fall of 2022, the 27-foot neon sign at the top of the former National Brewing Co. plant went dark. He then became more like a “box light sign,” illuminated by different colored lights. He stopped winking.
A passion of prehistoric proportions: Strasburg man volunteers to repaint Dinosaur Land
Chad Benson, of Strasburg, pours paint into a painting tray while working on the giant octopus at Dinosaur Land. Benson said he has dreamed about painting the prehistoric creatures at the iconic roadside attraction since he was a kid and now volunteers his time to to keep the beasts in good shape by providing a fresh coat of paint. He said he plans to repaint all 56 dinosaurs that inhabit Dinosaur Land. Jeff Taylor/For the Daily
From The Northern Virginia Daily: WHITE POST — At the intersection of two busy roads lies a dinosaur-laden spectacle that, since the 1960s, has delighted road-trippers of all ages who share an affinity for prehistoric beasts.
Strasburg resident Chad Benson remembers driving past Dinosaur Land with his family growing up. Though they never did visit, he would picture himself repainting the larger-than-life shark out front nearly every time they passed by.
Decades later, Benson was able to do just that.
Can Young Chefs Save the New York Diner?
Situated at a busy intersection in the Williamsburg neighborhood, Kellogg’s Diner has been a neighborhood institution since 1928. Colin Clark for The New York Times
From The New York Times: Last year, Jackie Carnesi received an unusual proposal. Would she be willing to leave her job as the executive chef of a popular Brooklyn restaurant to work in a nearly century-old New York City diner?
Kellogg’s Diner, a chrome clunker at a busy corner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, had shuttered suddenly last January after its owners filed for bankruptcy. The new owners wanted to keep it a diner. But they needed a chef.
Had the proposal been made earlier in her career — Ms. Carnesi, 37, previously worked at Empellón Cocina and Roberta’s — she would have said no. “My ego would never have listened,” she said. But they’d caught her at the right time.
Shell Factory announces closing; Sept. 27-29 final open weekend; park operated for nearly 90 years
After nearly 90 years, the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers is closing. Shell Factory / WGCU
From WGCU: The odd, unusual and usual — a glimpse of what Old Florida once was like — plus a menagerie of animals and other attractions were a given for those visiting the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers, FL, over the past nearly 90 years.
That all ends in two weeks.
On Monday the Shell Factory announced on its Facebook page that it would be permanently closing.