BeBe, Kadie the Cow’s calf, returned after it wandered off years ago in Columbus
The iconic statue Kadie the Cow has been missing its calf, BeBe, for years. But an anonymous individual decided to return the calf to its mother a couple weeks ago.
BeBe is now in the custody of Uptown Inc. after President Ed Wolverton received a phone call from someone who said they had the calf.
“After seeing a recent media story about our recent move of Kadie to Uptown, he volunteered to return BeBe to us for the reunification,” Wolverton told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Wolverton was surprised that someone came forward with the statue, he said. He was able to pick BeBe up during President’s Day weekend. The next steps will be to ensure that when BeBe is reunited with its mother that the calf will not be running away again.
“Through the years, BeBe has wandered off from Kadie a number of times,” Wolverton said. “So, we want to make sure that when we go to reunite the family that BeBe is well-anchored and it will be very difficult for someone to try to corral BeBe to go elsewhere.”
The calf also needs some cosmetic work before it can be displayed again with Kadie, he said, so officials will begin to ensure BeBe gets the grooming it needs.
The small size of BeBe is also a concern because people might accidentally damage the statue trying to sit on it, Wolverton said, which means officials will begin figuring out a way to prevent this from happening.
Kadie was an iconic attraction for many years in Columbus with BeBe joining a few years later, he said. The chain of custody as to when BeBe was added next to Kadie and how many times the statue has wandered away is murky, he said.
But BeBe had already been missing for a few years before the Best Buy where Kadie was previously located was closed.
Moving Kadie to a location along the riverwalk that is easy for people to find and enjoy has been a great asset for the community, Wolverton said.
“Getting BeBe is a little bit like icing on the cake,” he said. “We knew BeBe was out there somewhere, but we just didn’t know exactly where.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 3:13 PM.
