'Woody was a piece of art': Long-standing wood carving in Bois-des-Esprits forest falls

WINNIPEG -

The Bois-des-Esprits forest —which translates to Woods Where the Spirits Dwell—lost one of its spirits this weekend.

The forest known for featuring wood carvings in the trees of many kinds of spirits, lost its biggest as Woody the Tree Spirit fell. The carving has been in the forest for nearly two decades and was the staple of the area for all those who visited.

Murray Watson is a wood carver and has contributed several pieces to the forest. He said it was sad hearing the news that Woody fell.

"It was a fixture in that place for such a long time," said Watson. "That sort of what made that forest popular was coming to see the Woody sculpture."

Watson said because Woody had been around for so long, it was only a matter of time before it fell over, due to natural decay as well as people playing on it for many years.

Denis DePape, a member of Save Our Seine, said Woody was the first carving in the forest and he had so much for people to see.

"He was big, he was noticeable, he was highly visible and so when people came to see him, they were in awe of the size of this carving," said DePape. "Second thing is quality of the carving itself. It was really, really well done. Woody was a piece of art and his face on both sides had really interesting expressions and also Woody's arm was up and it just had the feeling of an arm reaching to the sky."

DePape said Woody was the main attraction for the forest and was the reason so many wanted to visit.

He said Save Our Seine is working on plans to honour and recognize Woody, with DePape noting the organization is looking at building another Woody carving.

"We at Save Our Seine want to make sure that Woody is not forgotten."

Watson said if he had the chance he would love to be part of the group to help carve the new Woody.

Woody was originally carved 17 years ago after the Dutch tree suffered from Dutch Elm Disease.