
The Big Blue Bug benevolently surveys his domain from the roof of the New England Pest Control building.
![]() The Big Blue Bug benevolently surveys his domain from the roof of the New England Pest Control building. Quahog.org > Attractions > Nibbles Woodaway Nibbles WoodawayRhode Island's favorite wood-boring pest. Big Blue Bug Solutions, 161 O'Connell Street, Providence Most states are deservedly proud of their spectacular natural landmarks, their delicious agricultural products, their heroic native sons. Us, we love our bug.
When New England Pest Control (now Big Blue Bug Solutions) bought their building between Allen's Avenue and Eddy Street in 1979, they wanted to make sure their potential customers knew they were there. The enormous termite, suggested by owner Leonard Yale Goldman and created by the Avenia Sign Company of Providence, certainly did that. The bug was assembled out of wire mesh and fiberglass over four days in late October 1980. Total cost: $30,000. Not only is he visually striking, but the creepy-crawly is the only hurricane-proof giant swarming termite in the world. "The whole roof would have to blow off before Nibbles would blow off," boasts NEPC's General Manager, Dave Pontes, on the Roadside America website. We asked the current owner, Stephan Goldman, if the bug would be replaced in the unlikely event it was destroyed by a hurricane, lightning, tidal wave, or other such natural or manmade disaster. He replied with an emphatic, "Yes!" and added, "There will always be a Big Blue Bug." The bug is currently covered by NEPC's business insurance policy, but when we inquired about the possibility of insuring it with Lloyd's of London, Mr. Goldman seemed interested. "I may have to look into that," he mused. Originally painted purple (the true color of a swarming termite under a microscope), the sun soon bleached the bug blue, and so he has remained. Before long he became known popularly as the Big Blue Bug, and was used as a landmark by traffic reporters. In 1990 a radio contest challenged listeners to give the bug an official name for the prize of a Florida vacation. The winning entry, "Nibbles Woodaway," was submitted by Tiverton resident Geraldine Perry.
The company was also receptive when a couple once asked to hold their wedding next to the bug, but insurance red tape put the kibosh on their plans. Still, romance is not lacking where the bug is concerned; in 2001 Nibbles was chosen as the venue for a marriage proposal. A man took his girlfriend in a limo to the breakdown lane of Route 95 where she could read the message presented by the blue one on a big banner. Of course she said yes. Nibbles has also seen his share of controversy. In 1989 a WPRO radio broadcast originating from between the bug's front legs caused two injurious car pileups as afternoon commuters slowed to gape at the spectacle of barechested host Geoff Charles hamming it up with a belly dancer and a very attractive woman in a green bikini. The stunt sent six people to the hospital. Nibbles has been mistaken for big game on at least one occasion. Small holes in the underside of his face are evidence that someone took pot-shots at him from the highway with a BB gun. 1997 was especially contentious: in June a joint promotion with Del's Lemonade almost came to a halt when city building officials decided that the huge cup of lemonade gripped by Big Blue was technically a billboard, because the product it advertised was not actually sold on the premises. Intervention by Mayor Buddy Cianci allowed the gargantuan drink to remain on the roof until an appeal could reach the Zoning Board, by which time the promotion was over anyway. "We're not pardoning Jack the Ripper here," Cianci is reported to have said, "It's a bug, and it's been our friend for years." Only a few months later, in October, competing exterminators cried foul when Nibbles was featured on 1.25 million scratch tickets issued by the Rhode Island State Lottery Commission. Lottery Executive Director Gerald S. Aubin countered by claiming that no one really associates the Bug Blue Bug with any particular pest control company (who did he think he was kidding?), and that he would continue to consider any suggestions for images on lottery tickets, as long as they were quintessentially Rhode Island, recognizable, and humorous. In 1999 someone suggested that Rhode Island's contribution to the Fifty States Commemorative Coin Program should be "a picture of Nibbles Woodaway wearing his Pawtucket Red Sox hat and sucking down a Del's Lemonade." The suggestion was not taken, and we ended up with a lame sailboat instead.
A Birthday and a New NameWhen New England Pest Control turned seventy-five years old in 2012, they wanted to mark the occasion with something big. And what could be bigger than changing their name? New England Pest Control became Big Blue Bug Solutions in April of that year, acknowledging that their biggest point of public recognition is their six-legged friend on the roof. "The time was right," the company stated in a press release, "to do something customers and friends had been suggesting for years." Does Nibbles have a second home in Utica?
AwardsRhode Island Monthly Reader's Poll: Best Rhode Island Icon (2002). Other Big Things in Rhode Island
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomatOnce upon a time, Nibbles was joined on this stretch of I-95 by a chrome horse (sans diplomat) that stood on the roof of the Astro Bumper Sales Company building at 147 Rhodes Street. It was created out of auto parts by Chicago artist John Kearney around 1978. Long before Nibbles ever made it on the scene the horse was annually decorated with a Yuletide red nose and antlers. When Astro Bumper Sales went out of business in 1991, the horse disappeared, but was replaced by a new one when NuChrome, a company specializing in car restoration, bought the building. The new horse was assembled by NuChrome employee Manny Ferreira from 1,000 pounds of bumpers and bumper parts taken from a Cadillac, a Chevy, a Fiat, a Ford, a Lincoln, a Mercedes, and an MG. This horse didn't stay around long, as NuChrome's building was torn down to make a parking lot for Rhode Island Hospital. The horse, and NuChrome, now reside at 161 Graham Road in Fall River, Massachusetts. InformationCost: free Time required: allow several seconds while whizzing by on Interstate 95 or several minutes from the city streets Hours: Nibbles is always available. Finding it: from Route 95 South take exit 19; follow the ramp around to the right, then bang a left on Eddy Street; turn left onto O'Connell Street; New England Pest Control is ahead on the left. What’s nearbyDistances between points are actual distances, without regard to potholes or man-eating weasels. Your travel distance will be longer. This article last edited April 24, 2015 © 1999–2021 Quahog.org (with the exception of elements provided by contributors, as noted). |
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