CBC Yukon's 'Larry Logo': mascot is gone, not forgotten

Calling all Canadians: CBC Yukon wants its mascot back.

OK, it's been 30years, but there are still some who hopefully cling to the idea that Larry Logo, a bulky pile of plywood,colourful fabric and oddly fulsome lips, is stashed away in a box somewhere and waiting for a triumphant return.

"It just sort of disappeared somewhere," said TimKinvig, a former CBC Yukon technician who remembers Larry Logo in hisglory days in the early 1980s, when he would marchinparades and greet CBCfans.

The suit was handmade by some ofKinvig'sco-workers in the late1970s. "Quite a creative effort, that's for sure," he said.

RonMcFadyen,a formerCBC Yukon host, typically wore the enormous get-upat public events.

"It was made out of plywood, so it was heavy. And then there were shoulder straps to keep it in place," McFadyen recalled."Visibility was practically zero."

"I didn'thave a clue where I was going."

The Calgary Stampede

McFadyenremembers occasionallysending the Larry suitout of the territory for someone else to wear ata parade in Yellowknife, orthe Calgary Stampede. It had its own shipping container, also made by CBC Yukon staff.

Opinions differ on whether Larry was actually lost on one of these trips.Kinviginsists Larry Logo always made ithome, butMcFadyenbelieves hestayed in Alberta.

"I'm going to accuse CBC Calgary of getting it, and not turning it back," he said.

It's possible, said SuzanneWaddellof CBC Calgary, though she'dnever heard of Larry Logo. She gamely agreed to rummage through her station's closets and storage lockersfor any sign of that poker face.

She found plenty of old CBCparaphenalia from luggage tags to bike lights but no Larry.

"Lots of things go missing after Stampede,"Waddelllaughed. "It doesn't surprise me."

The mystery lives on.