Kenny the Kennebec is a real spud-muffin! With his madcap grin and flamboyant hand gestures, he welcomes visitors to the village of Sassafras, on the fertile northern expanse of Tasmania.
You can’t miss Kenny, because he’s seated rather uncomfortably atop a seven-metre pole. Geez, that looks like it must’ve mashed his potatoes!
Being so high up makes it hard to take photos with the portly potato, so hopefully they’ll lower him sooner or tater.
Kenny started life in the early-80s, when potato farmer Rick Rockliff realised he needed something BIG to promote his roadside potato stall.
“We decided then that we’d build a proper little set up there, and the big spud was part of the advertising campaign,” Rick told a delighted reporter from the ABC.
Rick grabbed a particularly handsome kennebec potato from his farm, chopped it into wedges, then built a two-metre-tall scale model out of wire mesh, cement and fibreglass. But a potato, whilst delicious and nutritious, is a bit boring to look at, so Rick added a face, arms and legs.
And then, for the gravy on top, he added a wide-brimmed hat. The tourists poured in, the potatoes walked out the door – the big guy was a KEN-sation.
But then, one blustery day, the hash brown came toppling down.
Oh my god, they killed Kenny!
During a wild storm in October 2023, the tater tottered and – all of a spudden – crashed to the dirt.
“A truck backed into the pole about two or three weeks ago and weakened it,” a clearly rattled Rick explained. “The strong wind over the weekend finished the job off. But it was always solidly built, so it’s very superficial damage.”
But when the (hot) chips were down, Rick chose to find light in the darkness, turning a tragic event into an opportunity. He gave Kenny a new lick of paint and, after spending time relaxing around the side of a building, the big fella was back on his pole by the middle of January, 2024.
Oh, Rick, you really are a (potato) gem!
Despite being a yam of the people, Kenny the Kennebec isn’t friendly with that other Big Potato in New South Wales. In fact, the two are starch-enemies.
Alright, that’s enough dodgy jokes for one entry, so it’s time to wind things up and give this supersized spud a rating. I give this Big a solid Ken out of 10!
