Hunting for seal

The seal hunt is on for the beloved mascot at Menihek Nordic Ski Club.

The three-foot grey wooden seal was torn off the rail of Menihek Nordic's gazebo where it was displayed.

"We were attached to our seal," said Gerry Rideout, president of Menihek Nordic Ski Club, who hopes for its safe return.

He said people were quite interested in the mascot. It was quite popular among kids, people often took their pictures beside it, and it served as a great conversation piece.

Members from the club found an eight-foot long tree in the ditch in the form of the seal about eight years ago, Rideout said, which they decided to display on a picnic table near the Menihek Nordic parking lot.

Someone tried to take the seal before, he said, and beat up the picnic table.

Alf Parsons, coach at Menihek Nordic Ski Club, took a chainsaw to the mascot, according to Rideout, and carved a three-foot grey seal, which was then displayed on the gazebo.

Rideout doesn't know who might have taken the mascot, but believes it might have happened after hours when people come from everywhere on skidoos near the club.

He said in addition to the club's problem of people tearing up the trails on their ski-doos, the missing mascot is another unfortunate blow to the Menihek Nordic Ski Club.