ORILLIA, Ont. – Gordon Lightfoot says when he first heard that a sculpture of him would be erected in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario, his first thought was “Why me?”
The 76-year-old singer/songwriter was honoured Friday with a four-metre-high bronze work called “Golden Leaves – A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot,” which depicts a bearded Lightfoot in his 20s sitting on the ground and playing an acoustic guitar.
It’s framed by a wreath of leaves in the shape of a giant maple leaf.
Lightfoot — who attended the unveiling ceremony with his wife and daughter — says it’s “super special” to have the statute in his hometown, in a spot where he sometimes performs during the local folk festival.
The artist — Timothy Schmalz of St. Jacobs, Ontario — says he grew up loving Lightfoot’s music, and often works on his art with it playing in the background.
Now, he says, Gordon Lightfoot is in the foreground.
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