This 12-tonne limestone boulder bears the oOlympic rings and the words "Calgary Winter Olympics 1988". Its journey to this spot in front of the Bowfort Road McDonald's was a rocky one.
Scandia, Alberta farmer Joe Chomistek turned to rock carving as a result of his multiple sclerosis. By 1987, Chomistek had reportedly carved over 30 boulders. In 1986, he sold two of his carved boulders to the Canadian government. The two rocks, with a map of Canada and the Canadian coat of arms, are on the west side of Calgary's Harry Hays Building. .
With the 1988 winter Olympics coming up, Chomistek decided to create a rock with the Olympic rings, with the idea of selling to Calgary's Olympic organizing committee, OCO '88. After spending a year completing the rock carving, he ran into two problems: OCO '88 wasn't interested, and the image of the Olympic rings is a protected trademark of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Chomistek tried to address the second problem by changing the rings so that they were no longer linked, and thus not the trademarked image. The resulting image was far from pretty, but hopefully would not infringe on the trademark. At the same time, it was determined that an official Olympic sponsor could use the trademarked Olympic rings. Since the carving had generated considerable publicity and sympathy by this time, official sponsor McDonald's purchased the rock, to be located at its store near Calgary's Canada Olympic Park (now Winsport), site of numerous winter olympic events.
On 6 Feb 1988, just a week before the opening ceremonies, the rock was unveiled at its current location by mayor Ralph Klein. The rings were still in their de-linked format, causing Calgary Herald columnist Patrick Tivy to complain about this "ghastly McMistake." He also labelled the rock "one of the ugliest objects ever put on display in Calgary."
Nevertheless, Chomistek persisted. Since the rock was now owned by an official sponsor, the Olympic rings could be used. The stone carver came to Calgary and repaired the rings so that they were once again properly linked. The carved boulder has been in front of this McDonald's ever since, as a megalithic McSouvenir of the 1988 Winter Olympics.
The plaque on the boulder reads:
"ROCK CARVING
BY MR. JOE CHOMISTEK OF SCANDIA, ALBERTA
PRESENTED BY
MCDONALD'S RESTAURANTS OF CALGARY
IN HONOUR OF
THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES-
THE DETERMINATION & PERSISTENCE FOR EXCELLENCE
UNVEILED BY
HIS WORSHIP MAYOR RALPH KLEIN
ON FEBRUARY 6. 1988
COMMEMORATING THE XV WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
CALGARY, ALBERTA"
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REFERENCES and FURTHER READING
Find a Grave: Joseph Steven “Joe” Chomistek (1926-2004) (
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Mofina, Rick. "Stricken farmer carves monument to Olympics," October 15, 1987 (page 40 of 156). Calgary Herald (1939-) Retrieved from (
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Martin, Don. "Sculptor gets OCO warning," October 21, 1987 (page 25 of 349). Calgary Herald (1939-) Retrieved from (
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Mofina, Rick. "'Olympic' rock sculptor still hoping for buyer," November 28, 1987 (page 28 of 158). Calgary Herald (1939-) Retrieved from (
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Tivy, Patrick. "Tivy on Monday" [column,] February 8, 1988 (page 24 of 107). Calgary Herald (1939-) Retrieved from (
visit link)