ED Solonyka's Big Dream

For almost two decades, the Sudbury geologist chronicled Canada’s roadside attractions. Now friends and fans across the country are building on his legacy.

- Katie Daubs

UNLIKE THE ROADSIDE attractions he cataloged, Ed Solonyka did not stand out. He worked for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, was slightly taller than the national average, and had a mustache from the time he could grow one.

During a family road trip to B.C. in the early 1990s, the Sudbury geologist became fascinated with the roadside attractions that interrupted the Canadian landscape. The Internet was young, and Solonyka, then in his 40s, made a website chronicling these monuments, like the Big Nickel in his hometown. Readers sent along their own photos, and the site became an ongoing archive that captured well-known landmarks like Ontario’s eight-and-a-half meter tall Wawa Goose, and more obscure finds like the “World’s Largest Endangered Ferruginous Hawk,” in Leader, Sask.

In January 2015, I emailed Solonyka, believing his site could be a way into a series about small towns. “That sounds like a dream project,” he replied promptly. “Unfortunately, I have a cold. However, perhaps sometime later this week or next week I’ll be in touch to arrange a time.”

The series didn’t work out, and in the summer of 2017, I noticed Solonyka’s website had changed. Its design looked more modern, and there was a note:

“For more than 17 years, Ed regularly maintained and updated the site, which is now the authoritative list of large roadside attractions in Canada.… For some of us, the challenge was to find a roadside attraction not yet included on the site—take the photo and send it to Ed to be added to the archive. And it was fascinating to keep track of the expanding list of roadside attractions— even, and perhaps especially, those we weren’t likely to see in real life.

“On December 19, 2015, Ed passed away. This website will go on, in memory of Ed.”