Pelican Rapids' giant pelican, a 15½-foot steel and plaster symbol erected in 1957 at the base of the Mill Pond Dam along the Pelican River in downtown Pelican Rapids, became the town's most photographed object and later was named Pete in a Chamber of Commerce contest. After years of discussion by the local Chamber of Commerce, civic leader Truman Strand led the project, and local metalworkers Ted and Anton Resset created scale drawings from a mounted pelican, built a life-size cardboard model to determine the statue's dimensions and the placement of its concrete base, then constructed the steel framework and shaped the bird with wire netting in their welding shop. Volunteers directed by Gilman Resset poured the concrete base with more than 120 bags of cement, moving the concrete by wheelbarrow down the riverbank and completing the work in three hours, after which Lake Region Electric Cooperative's boom truck moved the framework from the blacksmith shop to the site. Although fiberglass was considered, the builders chose plaster for a more realistic appearance, and local tradesman Alvin Anderson hand-plastered the bird, which was then painted white with an orange bill and orange feet, for a total cost of $1200. For many years the Chamber of Commerce sold five-cent photo postcards of the pelican and used the proceeds from thousands of sales to maintain it, before the City of Pelican Rapids assumed ownership. The community celebrated the pelican's 25th birthday in 1982 with music, ice cream, and a huge cake before a crowd of more than 700, and in 2007 it again held a party for Pelican Pete's 50th birthday. The pelican remains a shared local symbol tied to memories of fishing below the dam, taking photographs with visitors, and watching the river's level by whether Pete's feet are wet or dry.