It all started with a verbal misunderstanding that led to the creation of the song.
and a music video.
And now a 16 foot tall snow sculpture.
Mark LeBlanc, also known as Mark-a-Paul-a-Joss, said he wrote the song. Elephant of Neguacafter he visited a village in northeastern New Brunswick and ran into a resident who recognized him.
During their chat, “She actually asked me if I went to see Hayes Island or Ile aux Foans,” he said.
But Leblanc thought he heard the French pronunciation of the word elephant – l’éléphant.
LeBlanc, from Digby, Nova Scotia, said, “Sometimes people have a hard time understanding me because my French accent is different from theirs, but I also have a hard time understanding others.
LeBlanc eventually found out that there were actually no elephants in the village, but said he thought it was an interesting story and decided to write a song about it.
He released a music video on December 19th. This follows Leblanc in a comical search to find this elephant.
In the video, a purple elephant can be seen taking a selfie in front of Neguac’s oyster carvings, hiding behind a village lighthouse and eating ice cream from the Neguac Dairy Bar.
The video caught the attention of residents of Néguac as well as people from faraway France.
“They absolutely love it. I’m amazed at how much they love it,” says LeBlanc.
The mayor of Neguac, Georges Savoy, said Leblanc’s song quickly spread throughout the village.
Restaurant Chez Raymond began selling elephant ears in honor of the song. Elephant ears are fried dough coated with cinnamon and sugar.
“They’ve been selling for over two weeks. They’re making over 100 a day and they’re gone by the end of the day,” Savoie said.
That’s where Ice Elephant comes in.
The village of Neguac came up with the idea of making a sculpture of an elephant and having Leblanc perform in front of it.
Enter Carakit sculptor Jean-Pascal Brideau, who created a 16-foot-tall purple elephant out of snow.
Brideau said it took about eight days to make this sculpture.
He painted it purple to match the elephant in LeBlanc’s music video.
Brideau said it was tough to sculpt in the recent rains and subsequent freezing temperatures.
He ended up using a chainsaw rather than a regular shovel to shape the snow, but it was well worth it.
“It’s been amazing to see people taking pictures, especially in the last few days, and people are enjoying it with each passing day,” Brideau said.
And now elephant sculptures are attracting more tourists to Neguac.
The mayor of Savoie said, “It’s amazing to see it. The artists are really great. No doubt.”
LeBlanc will perform in front of the Elephant Sculpture on February 4th at 11am. It’s sure to be a big night in a small village.
There is one final note to this story.
Neguac resident Carol McKnight said the sculpture spreads joy to the community during the period of frustration and grief that followed. Two long-term care facilities were abruptly forced to close.
“The last few weeks have been very negative for the village. It’s been really dark,” she said.
“[The sculpture] It’s great and it’s really big and I think it’s so great what the community does to bring people together,” she said.
