It’s nice to see what’s in your own backyard.

I have to admit, like many others who live in Westman, for the most part we have no idea what is available for us to enjoy in our own backyard.

Recently, I took the drive to Melita for the unveiling of the banana statue. The 33-foot yellow, smiling fruit with a bird in its hand, might look out of place on the Prairie, but that’s what makes it worth the trip.

Melita is in the banana belt of Manitoba. Some people thought, and still think, having a banana statue is a waste of money and ridiculous.

It’s a great idea and different.

The statue has generated tons of publicity that you can’t pay for and has piqued the interest of hopefully travelers from near and far, who will make their way to the banana belt and stay awhile.

It’s thinking outside the box, as the cliche goes.

When it comes to attracting tourists, how many nature shots or shots of nice buildings and museums do you want to see.

Give’em something different, which is what the banana is.

Other communities could take a page from the Melita handbook. Gladstone has the Happy Rock, other communities have spaceships, perogies and festive eggs.

While we are on the subject of tourism and getting people into smaller communities, why is it some towns roll up the sidewalks and shutdown for the weekend?

The feeling seems to be everyone is heading to the city for shopping and whatever, so there’s no point in staying open.
How much business has been lost because of this? And who do you blame?

Is it the businesses who close or the people who leave town, anticipating the business will shutdown so they spend their dollars elsewhere?

What would Brandon have, if the movers and shakers, thought outside the box?

We could put a big question mark on a pedestal, since residents seem to have plenty of questions and very few answers.

A natural fit in the region would be a potato, or going one better, a statue of french fries.

Carberry comes to mind for some reason.

One last suggestion... a statue of a tear.

We’re often whining that we don’t have this and don’t have that, so let’s stop shedding tears and put them in stone!