By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent News
People called it a home run, but since it’s a carving about a pitcher, maybe a better descriptor would be “the perfect game.”
A good-sized gathering was on hand to witness the unveiling of a carved wooden sculpture dedicated to Ridgetown’s own Harry O’Neill during the town’s 150th Anniversary celebrations.
World-renowned Bothwell carver Mike Winia, with the help of O’Neill’s great-great-grandchildren Lily, Jackson and Kacin Fuller, unveiled the masterpiece in a ceremony in front of the Ridgetown Legion Br. 243 recently.
It is two sculptures – one of a catcher’s glove and the second of a hand holding a baseball in the grip of a slider.
It was the slider that was O’Neill’s claim to fame, as although he made only four appearances in the Major Leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922 and ’23, he is regarded by many as the inventor of the pitch.
Jim Brown, chair of the Ridgetown BIA, said there were a number of ideas for the town’s personalized sculpture.
“But this topped the list,” he said.
The carving is the second of 16 to be erected in communities across Chatham-Kent in 2025 as part of an initiative by Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff, with funding provided by the Councillor Ward Funding Program through Hydro One’s $10-million investment in art, culture and recreation.
The first carving was unveiled in June in front of Rondeau Joe’s Pub & Eatery, depicting two turtles in a canoe as a reference to the area’s natural beauty.
Plans are in place to install sculptures in Bothwell, Highgate, Thamesville, Blenheim, Erieau, and Shrewsbury in the East and South Kent area at some point this year.
Members of the community, as they did in Ridgetown, will work with Winia and Canniff to determine the subject matter.
“Each and every one of them is meant to represent the community they’re in, to talk about (local) history, and this one very much meets that,” Canniff said of the Ridgetown carving.
Similar to the Rondeau carving, where people can sit in the canoe for their picture to be taken, visitors can sit inside the glove for photos and then proceed to the Legion, sign the guestbook, and receive a certificate of their visit.
