Spotted

from WALTER Magazine - June 2017

by WALTER Magazine

Drink

THE LAKE BOONE CHICKEN

by ALLISON ATKINSON

NNANCY HIGHT HAS BEEN DRESSING A BRONZE chicken statue at the foot of her Raleigh driveway every morning for more than 10 years.

She can’t tell you the date it all began, but she does remember why. She was preparing her home for a wedding shower, and wanted guests to be able to easily identify her driveway. Already a collector of whimsical yard art, Hight knew when she spotted the chicken that it would do the trick. She fashioned some wedding attire for the bird, dressed it for the shower, and a tradition was born. If you have met Nancy, this would not strike you as unusual. outfi ts and Easter bonnets, Hawaiian shirts and straw hats. Her chicken followed the candidacy and election of Donald Trump; is a major Wolfpack fan; and honors local heroes, like the fi refi ghters who kept downtown fr om burning in March’s massive blaze. When a prankster stole her chicken recently, she found an “emergency backup chicken” immediately, and didn’t miss a beat. An animal-lover since birth, Nancy has rescued and raised a multitude of live creatures, including dogs, a wolf that thought he was a dog, horses, goats, and even a donkey. As a child in elementary school, she says she was a repository for all manner of unwanted animals – a convenient adopter of ferrets and hamsters whose owners were not up to the task of daily pet care. Nor would the variety of costumes she makes for her chicken, which change with the day, season, and weather, and oft en respond to current events. Th e chicken regularly dons sundresses and prom dresses, rain slickers and graduation gowns, Santa Nancy has always lived with love and energy to spare. She has served on the boards of directors for the SPCA and the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine, and volunteered perpetually for Love Wins Ministries.

She brought her generous spirit back home to Raleigh about a decade ago, after more than twenty years of rural life with her menagerie on farmland near Wake Forest. When she saw a house for sale on Lake Boone Trail, she bought it the same day, putting her back in the same neighborhood where she’d grown up. These days, Hight’s menagerie is much smaller, but her sense of what is important in life has not changed one bit. It’s embodied in her dressy statute. “I guess Chicken’s motto is to have fun and be kind,” she says. When a special occasion or holiday arises, Nancy’s artistic side rises to the occasion. The U.K.’s royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton inspired an elaborate tableau and became a huge crowd pleaser. Some of her more memorable chicken vignettes include those she’s

made to commemorate Broughton High School reunions and Mardi Gras, but there are countless others. “Really, the scenes I enjoy most are when the chicken dons formal attire,” Hight says. That’s when she pulls out all the stops, even hanging a dollsized chandelier from the tree above the chicken. Periodically, the chicken is compelled to suspend its happygo-lucky temperament in order to make a thoughtful statement about the issues of the day, or to mourn a loss. On several occasions, the Lake Boone Trail Chicken has even been featured on the local news, most recently to protest HB2. Because the chicken sometimes feels like a hen, and other times a rooster, the chicken felt obligated to speak up. But it’s on the ordinary days that the chicken serves most as a reminder that there is still much good in this imperfect world, that Raleigh is the kind of place where a small bronze chicken believes it’s important to get dressed up to greet every single day; where Hight’s message to “have fun and be kind” resonates with all.