Schneiders ‘wiener beacon’ sign gets a miniature makeover
Posted Jan 16, 2022 02:00:00 PM.
A local landmark along the 401 corridor just got a small-scale interpretation.
Kitchener-based musician Danny Michel recently constructed his own miniature version of the iconic Schneiders sign for his slot car racetrack. He posted his handiwork on social media earlier this week, and it spread like wildfire, catching the eye of many fellow residents who were nostalgic about the sign.
“It’s just this structure that has nothing to with anyone’s life, but it’s this bookmark of a memory for them,” Michel said. “I’ve been trying to figure out why that is, and along the 401 from Ottawa to Sarnia, it’s the only thing that hasn’t changed since the 60s.”
Growing up in Kitchener, he often frequented that 401 corridor in between Cambridge and Guelph. To Michel, seeing the familiar glow of the Schneiders sign meant he was coming back from his aunt and uncle’s cottage at Puslinch Lake.
After building the replica sign, he soon discovered how many others had the same visceral reaction towards the wiener beacon; it was also a sign from their childhood which signified they were on their way to visit family, or they were almost home.
In fact, he’s already had some people offer to buy the replica sign from him or to build a version of the sign for other folks looking for their own scaled-down version of the Waterloo Region landmark.
