MOUNT STERLING – A Mount Sterling implement dealer has brought home a piece of his childhood.
Make that pieces.
Big, “prehistoric” pieces — as in dinosaurs.
A brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, stegosaurus and triceratops have a new home in the parking lot and showroom of Green and Sons, near the state Route 56 and Interstate 71 interchange.
“I just think they are funny and something different,” said owner Bill Green, who recently purchased the group of 12 Jurassic creatures. “I thought people would notice them and therefore notice our business, but I had no idea how many people would be interested in them. At the end of the day they just seem to make people laugh and smile for some reason.”
The purchase has its roots in childhood memories. Green fondly recalls as a boy visiting his Grandpa and Grandma Kelly near Lake Erie. A big part of those visits was a trip to the Prehistoric Forest Dinosaur Adventure Park and the Mystery Hill attraction at Marblehead.
The park was around the corner from their cottage.
“They remind me of when I was young and having a blast with my grandparents,” he said, adding that he has since taken his own children.
In 2010, it was announced the park was closing. Green inquired about purchasing one or more of the fiberglass dinosaur models.
No sale at that time, he said.
Then, the owners apparently changed their minds and offered them for sale in the fall of 2015. Green was able to negotiate the purchase of the creatures.
“They cost more than I wanted to pay,” he admitted.
“So do all of the vendor signs we put up that go largely unnoticed,” he said with a laugh. “We have already gotten tons of attention from them, so I think they will end up being worth it,” he said.
Hauling the large models from northern Ohio to Mount Sterling was no huge problem for an implement dealer. With large trucks and trailers at his disposal they were loaded onto either a semitrailer or a goose neck trailer.
Green said he did have to “amputate” the tail of brontosaurus temporarily to make the trip, but it was surgically reattached.
His haul was pretty popular driving down the road.
“You sure get a lot of looks,” he noted.
Green has already incorporated several dinosaurs into commercials for Green and Sons.
Employee Rhonnie Moore got into the fun part of the act. She positioned one of the Kubota tractors with a front loader near the head of brontosaurus as if it was eating. At the animal’s posterior, she parked a small manure spreader.
You get the picture.
With one commercial made he’s building on the prehistoric angle, including “Stone Age Pricing” and “Trade in your old dinosaur.”
“That can segue into our business,” Green said.
