Valley Arts Alliance wants ‘Bertie’ the dinosaur back

WASILLA — Wasilla police and a local nonprofit group are hoping to solve a theft of prehistoric proportions. It seems somebody broke into a locked barn at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry July 2 and made off with a 14-foot-long, 50-pound dinosaur.

Created for the Valley Arts Alliance’s 2011 Wearable Art and Runway Fashion Show, “Bertie” has since seen spot duty promoting VAA events, said the group’s president, Carmen Summerfield.

Bertie’s actually a representation of an Albertosaurus, which is in the same family as the Tyrannosaurus rex, she said. The dinosaur, which is bright green with black and yellow highlights, was built by five local artists and was designed so one person can wear the costume.

“We’d really like Birdie back,” Summerfield said. “Whoever can tell us about where Birdie is, we’re not after the people who kidnapped Birdie, we just want it back.”

Summerfield said the VAA reported the theft to Wasilla police, but also would welcome the Albertosaurus back “with no questions asked.”

“We think some people got in the barn, saw it, thought it would be fun to take,” she said. “But they now probably realize how heavy it is and probably don’t want to have it. Birdie needs to go back to the barn.”

If you have information about Birdie, contact Summerfield at carmen@valleyartsalliance.com or the museum at 376-1211.

Contact GregJohnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.