HAYWARD — Big Mike, the colossus that once stood sentry at the city’s north end on Mission Boulevard and now looms over Bell Plastics on National Avenue, will celebrate its birthday Sunday.
Fittingly, the free party in his honor will be a huge one, with jugglers, lots of food and classic cars.
Big Mike, also known as Muffler Man, will be on display, not that anyone could miss the 20-foot tall fiberglass figure.
Plus Doggie Diner heads, a Statue of Liberty, a Bob’s Big Boy, as well as a mighty Santa Claus will be there, towering over revelers.
Just how many candles will be on Big Mike’s birthday cake?
Bruce Kennedy, who is amassing the collection of vintage roadside advertising figures at the plastic manufacturing business, said he can only guess Big Mike’s age.
“We believe he’s from around 1966 or so,” said Kennedy, who remembers seeing the Paul Bunyan-like figure on display in Hayward when he was a boy. “He’s that old, at least.”
Before his current home at Bell Plastics, Big Mike stood on Mission Boulevard outside Morris Car Wash and later at the old TyrTreds shop.
Big Mike was Kennedy’s first purchase in 2011, and the statue needed some patching and fresh paint before the giant was ready to welcome visitors to the business on National Avenue in the industrial area.
Since then, Kennedy has been seeking out, purchasing and restoring the statues, finding Santa on eBay, a cowboy in Missouri and dinosaurs in Houston that once guarded a natural history museum.
Kennedy now owns more than a dozen, and his collection is growing.
This past year alone Kennedy added a replica of Michelangelo’s David and a 12-foot fiberglass hot dog.
Kennedy once offered passersby free guided tours of the kitschy items. But he said that became too time-consuming, and his business’ day-to-day work with plastic is not meant for public interaction.
“You might not believe it, but it’s actually a lot of work to stop and take people around and answer questions,” Kennedy said.
As well as getting a chance to wish Big Mike a happy birthday on Sunday, party-goers can view demonstrations on plastic polishing and laser cutting.
The activities begin at 10 a.m. Demonstrations will end at 5 p.m. and the statues can be viewed until 7 p.m. Bell Plastics is located at 2020 National Ave. Admission is free.
A similar celebration last year attracted 700 people, Kennedy said. So far, about 500 people have indicated they will attend Sunday.
“We are expecting even more people this year,” he said.
Kennedy said he has no plans to stop collecting the figures, even if they are difficult to store.
“We will just keep expanding while we can,” he said. “Every collection eventually gets broken up. But that’s not going to happen anytime soon for us. Hopefully, we will be here for lots more time to come.”