POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — The popular annual Mothman festival returns to Mason County this Saturday and Sunday.
Born out of the 1966 legend of a “Mothman” sighting, the celebration occurs every third weekend in September in Point Pleasant. One of the crown jewels of the event is getting to see the Mothman statue in the city. That statue was created by the late Bob Roach following the success of the 2002 horror film Mothman Prophecies.
A year after the film’s release, Point Pleasant officials commissioned Roach for the project. His 12-foot-tall stainless-steel creation has served as a tourist attraction ever since, right by The Mothman Museum.
While Roach has passed away, his daughter Kelly Roach Miller keeps the tradition alive. She recently opened a store, “the Mothman Statue Legacy,” on 326 Main Street in Point Pleasant. That shop has a wide variety of Mothman merchandise.
When she was growing up, Roach Miller watched her father work. She remembered her father during a Thursday appearance on MetroNews “Midday.”
“Talented man,” Roach Miller said. “He raised me every day; I was very used to seeing welding, with the stainless, we had a passion for stainless steel. He was constantly, always working on something; creating something.”
Roach Miller said that her father had a special talent. She said he could see the end result of his sculptures well ahead of their completion.
“My dad was just a quiet man, but when he spoke, he meant what he said,” Roach Miller said. “He would take stainless and bend it and shape it so effortlessly to create these statues. You knew when he started a project, he had a vision. He’d already seen it done before he even finished it. Just beautiful work.”
The instantly recognizable statue wasn’t a quick project, she said. Her father dedicated significant time and energy to the project.
“It took my dad about a year to make it,” Roach Miller said. “Countless hours, I would always remember, 3 o’clock in the morning, he was still out there, still hammering, beating on the stainless.”
Several decades have passed since the sculpture was completed. Despite this, the statue remains ever popular. Roach Miller got emotional describing the legacy that her father left with his work.
“Oh my goodness, it makes me so proud,” Roach Miller said. “Nobody has any idea how I feel. The passion that I’ve got over the statue, it being there, seeing people drive in. I have met so many people from everywhere.”
Roach Miller said that the statue serves as a tremendous tourist attraction. She said that everyone in Point Pleasant benefits from that, and beams with pride at the opportunity to share her affiliation to the area’s staple.
“This statue brings in the tourism for this town that helps the businesses,” Roach Miller said. “I’m just so blessed that I get to say, ‘my dad made that’ and I get to share stories about my dad, or I can tell them what’s hollow and what’s solid in the statue.”
Learn more about the festival here.