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Cheshire Chicken Stolen!By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
10:51AM / Thursday, July 31, 2008
CHESHIRE — Police are on the lookout for one or more chicken thieves after the storied Cheshire Chicken was stolen in the early hours of the morning Thursday.
The more than 8-foot-tall white rooster spent some 40 years at the former Country Charm Restaurant before being recently purchased by the family of its former owner, Harvey Daniels. The late selectmen and town constable bought the plastic bird in the late 1960s for his Chicken Stop diner, which he sold in 1971.
The freshly painted bird had made its debut at a family birthday party at Rolling Acres Farm on Saturday, firmly bolted into pavement at the end of the farm's long driveway.
"My heart just broke when I drove in this morning and the chicken was gone," said Elaine Daniels.
The foul deed occurred between the hours of 1 and 8 a.m. There are several rental properties near where the chicken stood by the farm's large barn and anyone driving in would have had to pass the farmhouse. But no one heard anything, said Daniels.
Police Officer Eric Bushika said he had checked along back roads and even the chicken's former home on Route 8 this morning without success. (The restaurant property has been foreclosed on and is scheduled to be auctioned today.)
 "Hopefully, it's just a prank and it will show up," said Bushika. The chicken's disappeared a couple times before, but always turned up — usually at a high school as part of a senior prank.
The thieves aren't likely to make a quick buck off the chicken, according to David Webb, a collector and seller of roadside memorabilia in the state of Washington.
"These things are desirable but most people have no way of displaying them so the value is always what someone is willing to let theirs go for," he wrote in an e-mail. "I guess I would say that they are worth $1,000 more or less."
Both the town and state police are on the lookout for the fiberglass chicken, which is white with black eyes, red comb and tail and yellow feet.
Anyone who has seen the chicken or has information regarding its disappearance is asked to call 413-446-3920.
Daniels said she hoped it was just a prank and that the chicken hasn't been damaged. "It's been through a lot," she said. "We just want to get it back."
First person to contact iBerkshires at info@iberkshires.com with information leading to the recovery of the Cheshire Chicken gets four tickets to the Berkshire Dukes' playoff game on Saturday at Wahconah Park with fireworks to follow. |
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary. Comments are closed for this article. If you would like to contribute information on this article, e-mail us at info@iBerkshires.com |
I can see the prank that one or some might want to pull...but knowing the history of this "Local Icon"...it breaks my heart too.
Please bring our chicken home... | | from: Cheshire@Heart | on: 07-31-2008 12:00AM
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| Of course, the article promoting the new home on I-Berkshires yesterday was probably the driver. If people didn't KNOW where it could be found, they wouldn't have tried to find it. | | from: Saddened | on: 07-31-2008 12:00AM
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| The most amusing part of this is that people are getting so riled up about 100 bucks worth of badly painted plastic. Seriously if you want a silly icon go down to the McDonald's and rip Ronald off the bench. | | from: JustTooGood | on: 07-31-2008 12:00AM
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| Remark from Just too Good should have her privacy violated. I'ts not the cheap plastic, we care about, it's the don't kneel on evils grate. | | from: not too happy | on: 07-31-2008 12:00AM
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| Some people have no values. If they think stealing is funny, what else would they do? | | from: disgusted | on: 08-01-2008 12:00AM
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| I hope whoever took our chicken has a heart and brings him home. My grandchildren are heartbroken to have "the Big Guy" stolen. They don't understand why someone would do that and it is hard to explain to a 5 year old that some people don't think before they act. It has hurt so many people and our memories where stolen right along with the chicken. Whoever took him, please bring him back home as quietly as you took him and there will be no questions asked. | | from: Elaine Daniels | on: 08-03-2008 12:00AM
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