Fans of paniolo Purdy push for statue
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
WAIMEA, Hawai'i — As if anyone needed proof that famed paniolo Ikua Purdy was larger than life, his fans are planning to erect a 16-foot-high bronze statue of him near the main intersection in Waimea.
Advertiser library photo
Veterinarian Billy Bergin, who led a successful effort in 1999 to elect Purdy to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, is trying to raise $300,000 to pay for the statue that shows Purdy on horseback chasing down a longhorn steer.
Ikua Purdy was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Purdy, a world roping champion, was born in Waimea on Christmas Eve 1873 and later worked on Kaua'i and Maui.
He died July 4, 1945, at 'Ulupalakua Ranch, where he is buried.
Fred Fellows of Arizona, a well-known sculptor of Western subjects, was commissioned to create the statue. The work is expected to be completed sometime next year.
As a fund-raiser, Bergin is selling 100 16-inch replicas of the statue for $2,200 each and 50 36-inch versions for $16,000 apiece.
Money also will be raised from the sale of a book and calendar on Hawaiian ranches being developed by Freddy and Gayle Rice of Waimea.
Ranchers from around the state can pay tribute to Purdy by adding their signature brands to the statue's pedestal for a fee.
"Purdy is no longer just a hometown hero immortalized in song and legend for extraordinary skills. This means he will not be forgotten," said Patti Cook, secretary of the Paniolo Preservation Society.
