Kid Rock on massive middle finger in Vermont: I gotta have one
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/4JQFFOB7SVISRJCJNTGTHDBQ6Q.jpg)
It's a story you'll only see on WCAX. An update about the Westford man giving his town leaders the bird with a giant middle finger statue.
We have learned there is another statue going to someone famous.
Our Cat Viglienzoni-- who first broke the story in December-- looks at how this Vermont story is getting its own fame.
The infamous piece of public art is visible from Route 128 in Westford. Thursday, someone driving by saw a trailer with a second sculpture on it and contacted us wanting to know if it was destined for the Westford property. We found out it's not. And where it is going might surprise you.
In December, the statue went up just steps from a busy route through Westford. A giant middle finger lit up to make sure you couldn't miss it.
"This is for the people who run the town of Westford," owner Ted Pelkey told WCAX News then.
Pelkey put it up to protest town leaders who he said won't let him develop his land. It became a tourist attraction instead.
"It's been busy," Pelkey said. "I mean, it's visited every day."
The big bird also got people buzzing around the country. Some thought it was crude, others-- hilarious. Pelkey says a woman in Israel even started a fan page for it on Facebook which has 1,500 followers.
Reporter Cat Viglienzoni: Did you think this was going to happen when you put it up?
Ted Pelkey: No, no.
And the headlines caught the eye of a rock star.
"Kid Rock did call," Pelkey said.
He didn't believe it at first.
"I laughed and said, 'Well, have him call me,'" Pelkey said.
And then he got this message: "Hey Ted, Merry Christmas. It's Bob Ritchie, Kid Rock."
Pelkey got the call just before Christmas to see if the rock star could get a statue of his own. Kid Rock is known for flipping the bird. The gesture even graces one of his album covers.
He told Pelkey, "I like your style. Thanks for getting us the info on that middle finger. I gotta have one of those on my property here in Nashville."
That's where the second one is heading. Pelkey contacted the Vermont artist who agreed to make another for Kid Rock. And Pelkey and his wife are delivering it to the rock star in person.
Cat Viglienzoni: What do you think the drive down to Tennessee is going to be like with that on the trailer?
Ted Pelkey: It probably won't be like that. It'll be covered up, I'm sure... I'm sort of excited; it's going to be fun.
Pelkey said he doesn't have an exact date for when this sculpture will fly south. But he said it will likely be next month.