A truck that backed into the famous Sassafras big spud two weeks ago, along with strong winds over the weekend led to its downfall, its creator has said.
“Kenny” the Kennebec potato had been standing on the Bass Highway for around 40 years, but after it was weakened weeks ago, the giant spud fell on Saturday night.
Farmer Rick Rockliff and Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s father said because the spud was “solidly built” from fiberglass and cement, the damage was only “superficial.”
He has now “taken it back home to restore it” before hopefully reinstalling it if council “bureaucracy” will allow.
“When we put it up we just put it up,” Rockliff said.
“These days, you’ve got to go through planning processes and all sorts of things but we might need some public support for that.”
Rockliff shared with ABC that the spud has been standing since around 1980 and was born out of his roadside potato sales business.
“We decided then that we’d build a proper little set up there and the big spud was part of the advertising campaign for the whole operation.”
“When he was brand new he was very sparkly there he’s withstood the weather for the last 40 years and shotgun blasts and bullet holes and all sorts of things.”
Rockliff described the reinforced wire mesh and cement fibreglass statue as an “exact replica” of a Kennebec potato, which has “done pretty well considering the weather conditions it’s experienced out of that long period of time”.
The giant spud is expected to be reinstalled in the coming months.
