After weeks of steady preparations by Museum staff and intense training by the competitors, this past Sunday’s Icon Gone confirmed that Whistler’s greatest historical icon is none other than the beloved Boot Pub. Angie Nolan, assisted by Cathie Coyle, took home the glory after defending the Boot’s honour against Jamie Bond and Gaper Day, in an epic final showdown between an “Icon Gone” and an upstart icon-in-the-making.
As promised, the competition was fierce. The new head-to-head format proved ruthlessly efficient, perhaps no more so than during the final first-round match-up when odds-on favourite Jessica “Pika” Turner’s heartwarming presentation about her father John “Rabbit” Hare was defeated by the eventual champions. The audience called for a tie, but Stephen Vogler and Jennifer Miller, who as judges were forced to pick just one, were swayed by Angie and Cathie’s theatrics.
The evening’s presentations were consistently compelling, but of widely divergent styles. Few dry eyes remained after Chris Quinlan’s touching tribute to late restauranteur Joel Thibeault or Hi Brooks’ case for an on-mountain memorial to fallen mountaineers, while Jamie Bond’s elaborate Gaper Day schtick and Jackson Crompton’s Broadway-style ode to Jeanie the Bear had the crowd crying with laughter (as did Jamie’s wry remark that Jack’s “bear” costume was actually a gorilla suit better-suited to Gaper Day during their semi-final showdown).
Kevin Damaskie delivered a deadpan recollection of The Whistler Answer that reinforced Whistler’s proud tradition of satire, while realtor and freestyle-ski queen Stephanie Sloan’s biography of Guiseppe Garibaldi was highly informative, but her narrow first-round elimination denied us the chance to learn of Whistler’s own “three wars.” Here are the final results:
Keeping the event running smoothly and the audience in stitches, Maureen Douglas returned to host the event for the fifth straight year. No one’s ego was safe from her razor-sharp wit. The GLC, a Whistler icon in its own right but a newcomer to the Icon Gone scene, proved the perfect venue for the informal community celebration.
Big thanks to everyone who came out, as well as the Province of BC, the GLC, Whistler Foto Source, Araxi, and Sushi Village for supporting what may have been the best Icon Gone yet. Tons of well-deserved credit goes to all of our competitors, judges, and MC for taking time out of their busy lives to take part in the event simply for the fun of it all (and perhaps some bragging rights). That’s what Icon Gone is all about!
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