Bigfoot ‘found’

By: 
Leslie Silverman

Dahl’s Chainsaw Art in Keystone will be officially unveiling the world’s largest wooden Bigfoot on Dec. 19.

Affectionately named “Billie” and carved on site, the wooden carving is about 23 feet tall from its seated position to the top of its head.

As for its weight, carver Jarret Dahl estimates it might be as much as 30,000 pounds. “I’m just throwing a number out there,” he said. “It could be even more than that.”

The carving took about eight days to complete.

Dahl enlisted his own crew as well as a crew of guys from Kentucky.

Billie still is not finished.

“I’m going to change a few things,” said Dahl who is overall pleased with how Bigfoot looks so far.

This is not the first Bigfoot Dahl has created.

The legend of “Billie” evolved after a local commissioned Dahl to create a smaller Bigfoot.

“I’ve had a few other Bigfoots at the shop,” Dahl said. “A local guy wanted one at his place as a commission piece.”

Dahl also had a friend who sculpts in Kentucky who had done one down there.

“We got to talking and decided Keystone would be a good spot for this sculpture,” Dahl said.

The sculpture may be the largest wooden Bigfoot, and Dahl hopes to get the Guinness Book Of World Records out to see if that’s the case.

Meanwhile, the giant sculpture is turning heads and stopping passing cars. Some even drive backwards down 16Ato do a double take of Billie.

“It’s a big deal. They’ve done a lot of landscaping around it,” said Keystone Chamber of Commerce director Robin Pladson, who is promoting the Bigfoot Bash event.

The unveiling of Billie will include food trucks, music and the official measuring of Billie Bigfoot.

The chamber, too, has created a virtual scavenger hunt for promotional purposes. The hunt features 15 locations scattered around the Black Hills.

There will either be a banner or a decal at each location. People would take a selfie and post it to the chamber’s social media website and be entered into a drawing for various prizes.

The Dec. 19 event is from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

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