A large turkey draws tourists to a small Manitoba community

His name is Tom, Tom the turkey.

The nine-foot-tall statue is La Riviere's most famous landmark and can't be missed while driving past.

“It's a big attraction and it looks really good in the summer,” said Charlene Currie, spokeswoman for La Riviere LUD.

The turkey was put on its pedestal nearly 40 years ago to celebrate La Riviere's centenary in 1986.

Residents said the turkey cost $35,000, or about $100,000 in today's dollars, according to a specialist who designed and built the turkey themselves.

“We decided, look, this little community can't afford to raise $35,000 for this,” said Ken Maloney, who helped create the turkey.

It was a high point for the small rural community, but while the turkey still looked great, things weren't looking good for the community itself.

“Now we only have four farmers. It's hard to make a living with four families instead of ten or 20,” said Kim Wiklund of La Riviere.

Today, only about 200 people live in La Riviere and only a few businesses operate here.

“This used to be a store,” Maloney said, pointing to the old building. “If you can't find what you need there, you don't need it!” Then we had a credit union. It was closed a couple of years ago. At one time there were six garages here. Things have dwindled.”

But while there are few full-timers here, there are plenty of transients.

Tom the turkey still draws crowds as if it were Thanksgiving dinner time.

“It's tourism, people walking by want to take pictures with it,” Curry said.

When they do, Kerry said they will see all that La Riviere has to offer, such as trails for walking, biking and hiking.

While the statue stands tall, La Riviere is always ready to welcome the next visitor to this wonderful community.