Photo: Ray Tahiri
Ray Taheri and the director of a school and children’s centre in Oradea flanking the monument to Peter Nicu.
The “Father of Ogopogo” now has a place of honour in a European city.
UBCO engineering professor Ray Taheri travelled to Oradea, Romania to supervise the installation of a bronze bust of his friend Peter Nicu, who lived in the city before he emigrated to Canada.
Nicu was a familiar face around Kelowna for decades.
He created the Ogopogo statue that still stands at the waterfront today, built an amphibious vehicle in the shape of the mythical lake monster and had a popular parade float that participated in events around the valley.
Taheri and Nicu met in 2006. After his friend passed away in 2013, Tahiri commissioned the bust and pledged to have it erected in the city that meant so much to Peter. A decade later, he has fulfilled that promise.
He…
