For most people, the seafood counter at Sobeys in Shediac, NB, is a great place to dine. But for Jared Betts, it’s something completely different: a research station. Mr. Bets, the new caretaker of what is arguably the most expensive and most photographed crustacean in the world, is coming here to stare at the lobster tank. When the staff notices that they are looking more or less, they pretend to be checking the price for something else. “I’m probably looking a little crazy doing this,” he said. The Shediac the Great Lobster, as it is affectionately known, is a 90-ton, 11-meter-long cement monument that has welcomed visitors to this seaside town since 1990. With more than half a million people expected to visit the famous lobster this year, Mr. Betts is under pressure to do the annual restoration of the sculpture properly. To do this, he is immersed in the underwater world of lobsters. He records them at the grocery store, studies them closely at a local lobster processing plant and watches documentaries about creatures. At home, he shows videos of lobsters on his walls, as if he were underwater. “I’m almost obsessed with it,” he said. “But I want to have a sense of how they move and all their different signs. It’s part of my research. “ Mr. Betts observes lobsters on the Sobeys seafood counter in Shediac. The sides of New Brunswick are full of great monuments. There is a giant potato in Maugerville, a large blueberry in St. Louis. George and the world’s largest ax at Nackawic. But no one is as famous as the Big Lobster, which in the summer months attracts hundreds of tourist buses full of people shouting for photos. At Shediac, which calls itself the lobster capital of the world, the Big Lobster is a source of great pride. Generations of Akkadian fishermen have pulled lobsters from nearby Northumberland. Thousands of locals have worked in canning establishments transporting lobster around the world. They love lobster so much here that there is an annual lobster festival – and a special one festival only for lobster roll sandwiches. “This Big Lobster has come to symbolize what Shediac is,” said Roger Caissie, the city’s mayor. “It embodies our community and has put us on the map.” Mr. Betts is fascinated by underwater life, like lobsters, which are a source of local pride (and a staple of local cuisine) at Shediac. Mr. Betts studies his notes as inspirational ocean shots play on a makeshift screen at his partner’s home in Pointe-du-Chêne, NB Scraping old paint from the lobster’s tail, Mr. Betts reveals the work of previous caretakers, such as a coat of white primer whose application caused a stir among the townspeople. It should come as no surprise, then, that people at Shediac have strong opinions about their favorite Big Lobster. When Monette Leger, a lobster keeper for the past 25 years, applied a new coat of white primer a few years ago, there were concerns in town hall. “The city received a lot of calls that morning,” Leger said. “Some people thought someone was vandalizing the lobster.” This spring, an unsuccessful move to temporarily paint lobster blue – about one in two million lobsters in the wild have this color – split city dwellers. Others want the monument to look more like a boiled, red lobster, which they say would make it more recognizable to tourists. Cleaners say it should have the darkest, dottest brown, black and green shell of a live lobster coming out fresh from the sea. “This is causing a lot of discussion,” the mayor said diplomatically. The Shediac Rotary Club began raising money to build the landmark in the mid-1980s, eventually paying $ 175,000 to Winston Bronum, a self-taught sculptor from New Brunswick who had already made a number of oversized, concrete monuments to his monument. street, including St. Thomas, Ont. s Jumbo the Elephant and the Cow Bay Moose of Cow Bay, NS Mr. Betts officially began his 10-year contract as the new Big Lobster caretaker earlier this year. As an artist who usually paints surreal images on canvas, he said he likes working on a project that takes him out of his studio and allows him to interact. with the audience. “There is something about things that is bigger than life. “The most powerful art is the art that disrupts your daily life and forces you to stop,” he said. “There is a sense of fantasy, there is a sense of wonder, and it just lights up something inside you. It makes people smile. ” Mr. Betts studies his notes and samples of colors and textures from Big Lobster. Ms Leger, who spent years finding the right epoxies, cement, paint and tools to help the Big Lobster recover from the saltwater scourge and all these climbing tourists, has taken Mr Bets under protection. of. She teaches him the process of intensive sandblasting, grinding, grinding, priming and painting, as he prepares to devote 10 hours to perfecting lobster in time for the city’s Canada Day celebrations. Working on a giant outdoor monument is a challenge, he said. Windstorms can sweep away discs of paint, rain can wreak havoc, and visitors sometimes pass through the artist’s barriers, switching to wet paint while trying to take pictures. But helping to preserve a publicly recognized work of art is invaluable, he added. Ms Leger, 63, said she decided to pass the torch after the death of her husband, Raymond Nadeau, who used to work with her, handling the power tools needed to repair damaged lobster spots, crushed paint. and humidity. She tried to continue this work alone after his death, but it was very painful. “I cried so much all the time, my shirt was wet,” he said. This summer, she will relax in retirement by selling her house and moving into an apartment – one with a clear view of the Big Lobster. “I told Jared I would be right across the street and watch you with binoculars,” he said. “So I will continue to watch it.”
