Big Mike

Greetings family and friends! Today's vignette, "Land of the Giants", is about a little known Roadside Attraction treasure in nearby Hayward....Who Knew?

Best Wishes for a Wonderful 2023!  Bill

Land of the Giants

I still remember that day back in 2011 when I read in the East Bay Times that Big Mike had been removed from his Mission Blvd. home of 45 years and taken away to parts unknown. Originally standing guard over Morris Car Wash with scrub brush in hand, Mike spent his final years dutifully watching over a tire business day and night and had become a defenseless target of thoughtless vandals. Unfortunately Big Mike had gone the way the Doggie Diner head that had stood from the 1940’s until the 1980’s just a few blocks away. Where did these gentle fiberglass giants go after their work on Mission Blvd. was done? Were they going to spend their final days in a landfill or shipped in pieces to a foreign land for recycling? Worse yet, callously melted down to unrecognizable puddle of plastic? The options were sad to contemplate, that is until I discovered that our oversize buddies, most products of International Fiberglass of Venice, California, had been rescued by Bruce Kennedy, owner of Hayward’s Bell Plastics and were undergoing thorough restoration, patching and painting. Happily Big Mike and Doggie have been joined by other once abandoned and homeless giants in Hayward in one of the largest collections of fiberglass sculptures on West Coast. In addition to Big Mike, Kennedy’s imposing outdoor “Avenue of the Giants” includes Cowboy Don, a couple Paul Bunyan figures, a Fireman, Gas Guy, Alfred E. Newman, Uniroyal Girl, and two Doggie Diner heads (I’m happy that our Doggie has a friend!). Bob’s Big Boy rounds out the collection along with chubby Santa, an array of Dinosaurs and a random group of other giant size fiberglass collectibles. Kennedy welcomes visitor’s to stroll through his collection during business hours at Bell Plastics (National Avenue off Clawiter), or you can see most everything from the street. Just look for Big Mike.

Hayward, Land of Giants...Who Knew?     -Bill

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12674