One of my favorite things about St. Bonaventure is the squirrels that hang out on campus. Whether they’re jumping out of a trash can or running up a tree with someone’s lost glove, they never fail to make me smile.
Now that it’s fall, the squirrels are getting ready for a long (but hopefully not as long as last year’s) winter. That means one thing. They’re getting fat.
I’ve taken a couple of walks this fall just to watch the squirrels prepare. I got to watch a squirrel dig a spot to hide its nut! I’ve seen so many eat! It’s probably so stupid, but the way they gnaw is so silly to watch, and if I’m in need of some nature, squirrels are the way to go.
This love of squirrels has always been present, but it intensified after I came to Bonaventure. When I was young, I’d sit on the porch with my grandpa, and our only real form of bonding was watching the squirrels and birds across the street. Then my sisters came to Bonaventure and told me about the elusive Bob the Squirrel, who happened to share a name with that same grandpa. Bob the Squirrel had no tail, would scurry around campus, and was apparently quite friendly.
Alongside that, Olean has quite a few squirrel statues. However, St. Bonaventure University doesn’t have a squirrel statue. This led me on a year-long quest.
First, I researched how to get a squirrel statue through the Woodland in the City project. I got a professor involved, emailed the woman in charge of the project, and months later, finally got to write a project proposal.
I had to get approval from the school, but first I had to get approval from the friars. You see, these aren’t just plain squirrels. These squirrels are themed. What better theme for Bonaventure than a Friar Squirrel?
I had to wait until one of the friars stepped down, but I did get friar approval. Then I got mayoral approval from the town of Allegany, the Allegany town supervisor, and then I got a devastating phone call from the mayor of Olean.
You see, the Olean mayor is the woman in charge of the Woodland in the City project. I thought for sure she would approve. And she did. But she knew something I didn’t.
These statues were custom-made for this project. There was a company that made a mold, and then local artists would customize them for the companies that ordered them. Well, this company that had this exclusive mold destroyed it. And nobody knows why. There were orders that were waiting to be fulfilled!
The Woodland in the City project is unfortunately at a standstill. Creating a mold like that is incredibly expensive and was difficult to do in the first place with the limited funds. Now, it’s unlikely that the project will be able to do more than maintain the current statues.
I would be over the moon if, somehow, a mold was made from an existing statue and the project I’ve been thinking of for years finally got put into motion. Squirrels are beautiful and fun, and we should be able to show our appreciation for squirrels and local artists through these statues.