Hockaday sign refurbished and ready for home

The iconic moving fisherman sign that held its own along Montana 93 in Lakeside for over 50 years has been refurbished and is on the verge of finding its way into the sight-line of Lakeside residents once again.

The restored Hugh Hockaday sign was animated and visible in front of Joe Blogz for about two weeks in May. It now sits at the Sok Ranch property between Somers and Kalispell, waiting for a more permanent home in Lakeside.

From the early 1940s to 2000 the larger than life sign highlighted the way to the Lakeshore Motel owned by Bess and Am Kolby.

“I just always remember it (the sign) being there,” said the Kolby’s daughter Lynda Burns.

The sign is an example of what Hockaday did from the 1920s-40s, designing commercial displays for Scruggs-Vandervooter and Barney department stores. Burns said her parents were good friends with Hockaday and his wife Ethel, and the sign was made for her parents. The man fishing is supposed to be her grandfather Flim Barrick.

In 2000 the Kolby’s sold their motel property and it now holds the Waterfront Condos that line the edge of Flathead Lake between Volunteer Park and the Short Branch Saloon.

Burns said the sign stuck around for a little while after they sold the property, but then it just disappeared. Burns eventually saw it pop-up in Kalispell, which is also where Bob King saw it.

When King saw it, he wanted to purchase it, restore it and bring it back to Lakeside.

King asked about it for years before the owner finally gave it to him last year. King, Rick Dotson, Mark Unruh and artist Cathie Dae restored the sign over the winter.

“It was all dilapidated,” Dotson said. “We got it in the nick of time. We wouldn’t have had anything to work with if we’d waited anymore.”

The only original piece left is the red boat the fisherman sits in. The fisherman, trout and fishing rod were replaced, the mechanics were re-wired and the whole sign was re-painted to match the original.

Dotson said while the statue was in view at Joe Blogz, they received a lot of positive feedback.

“People were saying, ‘oh, that brings back memories,’” Dotson said.

King wants to donate the sign to Volunteer Park, but the Flathead County parks department said it most likely wouldn’t be something that could be done because of the potential for vandalism.

So until the sign can find a home, it waits on the Sok Ranch just outside of Kalispell. The property is owned by Ted Sokaloski, King’s uncle.

“It’s a piece of Lakeside history,” Dotson said.