Rocks of all shapes, sizes, and colours have been added to Rocky the rock snake since he was first placed in Nanaimo's Beaufort Park by Joanne Pollard in early August. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

rock on

Growing bigger every day, ‘Rocky the rock snake’ slithers through Nanaimo park

Aug 24, 2023 | 5:25 AM

NANAIMO — A large, colourful snake has been spotted in a local park this week and it possesses the amazing ability to grow in length by upwards of a metre every day.

But what makes this snake truly unique, is the fact it’s made up of rocks painted by members of the community. ‘Rocky’ the rock snake was first spotted earlier this week inside Beaufort Park, behind NRGH.

Joanne Pollard, a social worker and artist who’s spending the summer in Nanaimo, got the idea to start Rocky from her daughter who lives out of town, as a fun way to bring the community together.

“I thought, ‘you know what? This is something that the children would love.’ I’m a community person myself, I love kids, I’ve worked with kids through this community and other communities, so I thought this would be a real joy for them to have Rocky the snake in their neighbourhood!”

By the end of Monday, Aug, 21, Rocky was about 21 rocks long, with painted designs ranging from food to comic book heroes and words of inspiration, and even a toe complete with a painted toenail.

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But by the next day, Rocky had grown to 73 rocks, and by Wednesday evening he was at 84 rocks, stretching out to an impressive 22 feet, nine inches.

Various versions of Rocky, or Rocco, have appeared across the country this year including one in Sarnia, Ont., which grew to over 3,000 rocks in less than two months.

With the help of her son-in-law, Pollard found the perfect specimen for Rocky’s head rock from the river last month, which she then cleaned up and adorned with green paint to form his head.

She was also given some plywood from a nearby construction site which she used to make the sign, and placed them both along the walking path in Beaufort Park, south of the pickleball courts.

Inspired by her daughter, Joanne Pollard started Rocky the rock snake in Nanaimo’s Beaufort Park, and it has since grown to over 80 rocks in only a few weeks. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Pollard said she’s returned a few times to see how Rocky has grown, and the joy Rocky brings to people, especially kids, makes it all worthwhile.

“They could be all excited and paint these really cool rocks and it makes like a day outing for their mom and all of their siblings. Everybody comes together as a family and as a community, building Rocky the snake to see how long Rocky will grow.”

Pollard told NanaimoNewsNOW anybody of any age is welcome to add a painted rock.

“Just paint something really fun. Little humans like to paint really cute things. I mean you can look at some of these rocks right, and they’re quite beautiful and quite funny.”

Pollard said anyone who contributes can come and collect their painted pieces by Sept. 1 when she’ll take down the sign and clean up any remaining rocks.

She’s also hoping someone would be willing to store Rocky’s head and keep his spirit alive by placing him somewhere else in Nanaimo for the community to enjoy.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow