This hydrant stands in front of what is now the TD Canada Trust building, once the site of the Chinese Benevolent Society Hall and a barbershop.
The hydrant is now a hairdresser, made to recall one hairdresser in particular:
"
May Eagleson became the first female “barber” in Quesnel when the local barber left to serve his country during the war."
Each hydrant has a sponsor; the Hairdresser's sponsor is
Spa Rivier, a full service wellness spa and salon.
The quote above was taken from the
Little People Walking Tour Guide. The "Little People" project was a city beautification project undertaken by the City of Quesnel to have many of the city's fire hydrants dressed up as citizens of the city from days gone by. In 2001 the city asked artist Leigh Cassidy to beautify their hydrants and this is what she came up with. To date 22 hydrants in the downtown area have been transformed into "Little People".
In 2001 the Quesnel Downtown Association asked me what could be done with their fire hydrants. My suggestion was to turn the hydrants into local historical figures. The sponsors got to choose or were offered who from our local history could represent their business and away we went.
This year, 2013 will be 12 years the hydrants have been enjoyed by tourists and locals alike. They do have an anti-graffiti coating I purchase from Canadian Building Restoration. The hydrants do get touch ups every couple of years as they are in the near vicinity to just about everything including the salt trucks, the plows and of course dogs.
It has been a very pleasurable job sitting on street corners painting the little guys and gals. I get people from just about everywhere asking about them and their history.
From Leigh Cassidy's Little People Page