Road TRip
The town that boasts a unique history, a world
championship—and one very big bone
By adele Paul
To look aT me ,
you wouldn’t know I’m
a world champion. I’m relatively
ordinary—but I do hail from an
extraordinary town.
Nestled in west-central
Saskatchewan near the
Alberta border, Macklin
is home to around 1,400
residents. At first glance,
it looks like a typical
prairie town: a Main Street
with a grocery store, old
hotel and brick post office;
a well-loved schoolyard next to a
charming church. But the real magic
of this town can’t be found in any
46
summer 2018
CAA saskaTChewan
building. It’s a treasure you find in its
culture, people and history—and it all
starts with a big bone.
Unsuspecting passers-by travel-
ling on Highway 14 liken their
approach into Macklin as
one of those “it’s a bird…
it’s a plane” moments.
From a distance, you spot
a towering white figure,
slowly emerging along the
horizon. At first glance, it has
the unfortunate appearance of
a human torso. But it’s actually a
bunnock (meaning “bone” in German).
Proudly standing just north of town
is the “World’s Largest Bunnock,” a
10-metre-high structure, made of steel,
chicken wire and fiberglass and meant
to resemble a horse’s ankle bone. It was
erected in 1994 by Saskatchewan taxi-
dermist Ralph Berg, and now serves as
a tourist booth. But what’s the signifi-
cance of equine bones to Macklin?
As every local will tell you, there’s
a very logical reason. For the past
25 years, Macklin has hosted the
World Bunnock Championship—an
international tournament with some
320 teams competing for more than
$40,000 in prizes and the prestigious
title of World Bunnock Champion.
bones:
Macklin Has a Bone to Pick