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Flower Plower! Prank blooms into something positive at U of G

When Western University students played a prank by dumping an old tractor on top of the U of G's beloved cannon, the response was a positive one

What started as a crude prank by Western University has been turned into a University of Guelph positive with the help of grounds staff and students. 

As part of their ongoing rivalry, Western University pranked the U of G engineers this past year by leaving a tractor on top of Old Jeremiah, Guelph’s signature cannon. Both were painted purple and white – Western’s colours. 

“It was (making) rude gestures to the cannon,” said Mwangi Wairimu, lead hand for campus grounds. “We had to take it down very quickly.”

But rather than pranking Western back, “in the spirit of good rivalry,” grounds staff transformed the tractor into a floral garden with corn trailing behind it.

Calling it Flower Plower, they said it was inspired by the Blossom Express and emphasizes U of G’s agricultural roots. 

They started by stripping the purple paint to remove any remnants of Western. 

“We sandblasted the paint off, and then we put vinegar and peroxide on it to make it rust a little bit more,” said lead gardener Nick Colley-Lussier.

Then they added what is essentially lattice made out of chicken wire, welding it around the tractor as the base for the plants. 

By the time that was finished, they brought on their summer students to help out: Casey Crown, Max Robles and Alex Hostetter. 

Crown and Robles wrapped the tractor in the landscape fabric and filled it with dirt, and then the rest got to work planting. 

“I was expecting to do a lot more maintenance stuff,” said Crown about his summer job. “And then we came in and did a super cool project.”

Robles added that “It was nice to have something where you could see your progress and make something beautiful.”

“It’s a big team effort. We all put 100 per cent in. We’re really proud of what we achieved,” Hostetter said. 

But the question remains: How did the tractor get there? 

“It’s so old, there’s no way they drove it,” Robles said. “It’s a mystery.”

You can find the tractor in front of the conservatory beside the university centre on the main campus. 
 


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Taylor Pace

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