The seven-foot statue reported stolen from the Iola Winter Sports Club turned up at the artist’s studio.
BuzzSaw Bob Halverson picked up Ivar — a wooden carving of a bearded Norwegian with Viking horns in the position of a ski jumper — over the weekend to add a coat of varnish and mount the statue to a pair of skis.
Unfortunately, not all members of the club were aware of his arrangements to take the statue to his studio. When they discovered the statue was no longer under the back deck of the chalet, they called the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office and reported that Ivar had been stolen.
“I found out this morning that they had reported it stolen,” Halverson said Wednesday. “My belly hit the ground when I heard the news.”
He attributed the misunderstanding to poor communications among club members.
The artist, who also created the landmark Vidar sculpture in the village of Iola, said he plans to have the statue finished within two weeks.