Bowring Park celebrates Peter Pan statue's 100th anniversary

The Peter Pan statue in Bowring Park holds memories of childhood, says Gaylynne Gulliver, chair of the Bowring Park Foundation, who helped organize a two-day festival to celebrate the statue's 100th year in the park. 

"I think it's a part of the memory of everybody who grew up in this area of the province," Gulliver told CBC News. 

The festival included face painting, crafts, music and storytelling. 

The statue was first erected in 1925 by Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring. It was dedicated to Bowring's three-year-old granddaughter, Betty Munn, who died on the SS Florizel after in sank in the ocean near Cappahayden in 1918. 

The statue is a duplicate of the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens in London, England. There are only six other replicas across the world, including the one in St. John's. 

Gulliver says the statue is about remembrance and love. 

"It's a symbol of … eternal youth and childhood and the child in all of us," said Gulliver. 

Local storyteller Dennis Flynn also attended the event and told stories about the park and the statue's history. 

WATCH | How Peter Pan came to call Bowring Park home a century ago: 

Peter Pan always said, ‘Never grow up!’ But this statue in Bowring Park is 100 years young

3 hours ago

Duration 1:58

The statue was erected in 1925 in Bowring Park in the west end of St. John’s. It’s a duplicate of the one in Kensington Gardens in London, England. The CBC’s Julia Israel has the story of how it came to be and the sweet story behind it.

He said his favourite story is about two monkeys named Josephine and Gus that used to live in the park. In 1955, they got away, and Gus was lured back with a bunch of bananas, Flynn said. 

Flynn says the statue's claim to fame is having two dedications — one to Betty Munn and the other to all the children of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

And, he says, it was important for people of all ages to come to the park for the event, considering the challenging times in the world. 

"If you can have a day when you can come back and relive your childhood … relive some great memories and hopefully make some new ones, what's wrong with that?"

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