ROANOKE, Va. – A beloved children’s book character has come to life and made his way to the Star City.
An 8-foot cut out of Waldo from the children’s puzzle book, “Where’s Waldo,” can be found at the construction site of Carilion’s Crystal Spring Towner expansion.
Josh Young, a senior superintendent with the construction firm, Robins & Morton, came up with the idea to bring Waldo to life.
“It’s to try and do something unique, something to brighten their day. So we came up with the idea to take a cut out of Waldo, everybody knows the children’s story. So we take him each day and put him in a new spot on the site so the kids have something to look forward to,” said Young.
The construction site is right below Carilion Children’s Hospital. Giving patients and staff the perfect view to ask, “Where’s Waldo?”
“I literally just got this spark of joy and this really fun moment,” said Kathleen Boone.
Boone is a child life specialist at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She says it’s important to bring joy and play to pediatric patients, which is exactly what Waldo is doing.
“I can imagine that’s what the children are feeling as well. Just a fun surprise and something they weren’t expecting and something that brings them joy which is really important to have those pockets of joy here because it can be really difficult,” she said.
Each day, Waldo can be seen hiding out in a different spot at the construction site.
“Just to brighten the day over there with the community, the patients and the staff. I had guys lined up so. They enjoy every single morning, the first thing they do when they show up is find a new place for Waldo,” said Young.
Young says he and his crew have big plans for Waldo, from new hiding spots to different costumes for upcoming holidays.