Pull-Tab Sculptures Inspire People To Donate

2000 - Volume #24, Issue #5, Page #22

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Doug Fibke has been collecting pull tabs from aluminum cans for seven years and now has more than 1,200,000 of them.
  But Fibke doesn't just collect pull tabs. He makes things out of them.
  He used the first million tabs to make several sculptures, including a 6 1/2-ft. tall farmer holding a pitchfork, a life-sized pig, an 8-ft. tree, a horse's head, a 14 by 7 1/2 ft. barn, a gas tank, a well, a chicken and a tractor. He's still working on the remaining 200,000 pull tabs.
  Fibke has been featured on television and in farm newspapers. Now, he has plans to take his unique attraction on the road, to raise funds for charity. He has purchased a one-ton dually truck and a trailer to display his collection in.
  He plans to call his travelling show, "The Amazing Million," and visit rodeos, fairs and festivals where he will charge a small admission fee and encourage donations into his "donation well," (made from tabs) to raise money for things like wheelchairs and the food bank.
  Fibke doesn't ever plan to cash in the tabs for their recycle value, since they are worth far more in their current state as a publicity tool for charity.
  "I'm inspired to play a small part in the big job of helping needy people," he says. "I think that others who collect tabs and send them to me deserve recognition, so I plan to have the names of each of those people put on a plaque that will be displayed in the touring trailer. For example, I've already got 253 names of people who contributed to the first million tabs in the collection."
  To make his sculptures, Fibke strings them on wire and uses various materials to make the underlying frame.
  "For example, the pig shape is made from paper mache and was donated to me. The base for the farmer's feet are made from two-by-fours, the legs are stovepipes, the stomach is foam with chicken wire around it, his arms are pipes and his head is a little garbage pail," he explains.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Fibke, Box 755, Onoway, Alberta, Canada, T0E 1V0 (ph 780 967-2107).

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Pull-Tab Sculptures Inspire People To Donate AG WORLD Ag World 24-5-22 Doug Fibke has been collecting pull tabs from aluminum cans for seven years and now has more than 1,200,000 of them. But Fibke doesn't just collect pull tabs. He makes things out of them. He used the first million tabs to make several sculptures, including a 6 1/2-ft. tall farmer holding a pitchfork, a life-sized pig, an 8-ft. tree, a horse's head, a 14 by 7 1/2 ft. barn, a gas tank, a well, a chicken and a tractor. He's still working on the remaining 200,000 pull tabs. Fibke has been featured on television and in farm newspapers. Now, he has plans to take his unique attraction on the road, to raise funds for charity. He has purchased a one-ton dually truck and a trailer to display his collection in. He plans to call his travelling show, "The Amazing Million," and visit rodeos, fairs and festivals where he will charge a small admission fee and encourage donations into his "donation well," (made from tabs) to raise money for things like wheelchairs and the food bank. Fibke doesn't ever plan to cash in the tabs for their recycle value, since they are worth far more in their current state as a publicity tool for charity. "I'm inspired to play a small part in the big job of helping needy people," he says. "I think that others who collect tabs and send them to me deserve recognition, so I plan to have the names of each of those people put on a plaque that will be displayed in the touring trailer. For example, I've already got 253 names of people who contributed to the first million tabs in the collection." To make his sculptures, Fibke strings them on wire and uses various materials to make the underlying frame. "For example, the pig shape is made from paper mache and was donated to me. The base for the farmer's feet are made from two-by-fours, the legs are stovepipes, the stomach is foam with chicken wire around it, his arms are pipes and his head is a little garbage pail," he explains. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Fibke, Box 755, Onoway, Alberta, Canada, T0E 1V0 (ph 780 967-2107).

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