QUOTA FLOATS AGAIN!

On Thursday morning , November 17, QUOTA the fish once again rose from the depths of obscurity and took her rightful place among the inhabitants of Port Stanley. Quota now proudly resides at the cairn atop the new sign recently installed at the intersection of Colborne, Main and Bridge streets and warmly welcomes all the guests, visitors and residents that arrive every day in our beautiful, harbour village (click here to see a picture of Quota). A group of about a dozen people, including artists John Hoos and his daughter Helaine Hindley who refurbished Quota as well as media from the Lake Erie Beacon, the St. Thomas Times Journal and The Weekly News  were there. Hats off to everyone, including the many volunteers, the Port Stanley Village Association, the BIA and Central Elgin staff for bringing Quota ‘back to the surface’.

For those of you interested in the history of Quota, it all began in 1995 when Teresa Kelly, a Director of the Port Stanley Business Association (PSBA) was approached by a visiting artist from Toronto.  He showed her a photograph of a pickerel he had done for the village of Bancroft which ultimately led to an agreement that a similar fish would be a very appropriate symbol for the village of Port Stanley and its fishing industry.  The PSBA partnered with the Port Stanley Fishermen’s Association and along with donations from private citizens, $3,000 was raised to pay for the fish’s construction. The work took approximately one month to complete and for those of you who remember, the original ‘finished’ fish was quite impressive in size and detail and lent an aura of ‘uniqueness’ to the village core.

A contest was held to name the mascot and over 500 entries were submitted.  The winning entry ‘Quota’ was submitted by the Reeve of Port Stanley, Penny Tolmey, whose submission reflected the local turmoil caused by low fish stocks and fishing quotas being reached early in the season. There was much discussion about where to place ‘Quota’, and some time later, in the dead of night and unbeknownst to others, PSBA members, Yarmouth Metals and ‘unnamed others’ surreptitiously mounted the 10-foot, 150 pound fish on the Transport Canada sign in Glover Park.  And there it stayed until 2010 when Glover Park was renewed and the mascot was removed due to its poor condition. Subsequently, many business owners and residents questioned the whereabouts and sought the return of ‘Quota’, which was stored in the Central Elgin municipal garage.  In September 2011, the Port Stanley Business Improvement Area (PSBIA), the Port Stanley Village Association (PSVA) and several volunteers jointly organized a project to refurbish Quota and have it installed above the new PSBIA sign at Main and Bridge Streets.  And on November 17, 2011, ‘Quota’ once again rose to the surface and in recognition of the significance of this event, is now listed on the LARGE CANADIAN ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS website.