This billboard in Pine County inviting visitors to come rest and relax in Grand Marais no longer has its seagull mascot.
The tourism folks in Grand Marais are having a bit of fun these days with the theft of a faux gull that was perched on the city’s billboard along Interstate 35 in Pine County.
“He was perched there, welcoming people north. And now it’s just these little tangled yellow feet – so we’re pretty sure he didn’t just up and fly away,” said Diane Brostrom, director of the Grand Marais Area Tourism Association. Grand Marais Mayor Sue Hakes has vowed to pull out all the stops to get to the bottom of the crime. The caper is the subject of Facebook updates. The tourism association is welcoming information, anecdotes and sightings on its Web site (www.grandmarais. com). In its “Give Us the Bird” campaign, it’s offering a reward — a free vacation in Grand Marais — for the bird’s safe return … or at least a good story of what might have happened.
“I have your bird. Pick me as the winner or the bird gets it,” one Wisconsin woman posted on the site. Fun or no fun, they want their bird.
“Aside from what he might do to your car, this bird’s nothing but friendly — he’s the symbol of Grand Marais, and we want him back,” said Brostrom. “We’re really broken up about this.”
In July, vandals somehow managed to climb to the top of the billboard, dislodge and steal the gull, leaving only its yellow feet. It wasn’t the first time, said Brostrom. The bird first was stolen in January and never found.
A replacement gull was fashioned and the crew at Lamar Outdoor Advertising bolted the bird so well to the sign, no manner of weather could dislodge it. But somehow, vandals managed to do what the wind couldn’t.
Now, Brostrom has launched a PR campaign with the association’s ad agency, SwimCreative, using the true fact that the 5-foot gull is missing to call attention to Grand Marais with some “very fun” marketing tools. Brostrom said the press release reporting this abduction went out to over 100 different media, and the story was recently featured on National Public Radio.
“We have changed the billboard for one month, and the home page of our Web site (grandmarais.com) is devoted to this promotion for one month,” added Brostrom. “We just want someone to give us the bird back!”
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