Scotty the T. rex fuelling passion of dino fan awaiting reveal

Before the world’s biggest Tyrannosaurus rex is unveiled to the public on Friday, one eager dinosaur fan was patiently waiting on a bench outside the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on Thursday to get his first glimpse.

Trystan Galger took the day off work and travelled from Melville to Regina for an exclusive sneak peak event available to members of the museum. Unfortunately for Galger, he arrived to find the doors locked and realized he was a few hours early for the noon event.

When Galger was a little kid, Sue the T. rex was discovered in South Dakota, making it the most complete T. rex specimen ever found at 90 per cent. Scotty, meanwhile, is about 65-per-cent complete.

Sue is now on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, but Galger hasn’t had a chance to go see it. He said he couldn’t pass up the chance to see Scotty on the first day.

“It’s just awesome to have something like this so close to home,” said Galger.

Galger’s passion for dinosaurs and paleontology started as a kid when he watched the “Land Before Time” movies.

“Ever since I saw those, I don’t know, just those big, amazing creatures, it just captured my imagination that there’s these worlds before us that are so alien but at the same time they’re so familiar,” said Galger.

He often travels to prairie paleontology havens like Eastend and Drumheller and plans to volunteer at dig sites soon. It’s something he hasn’t done before but he’s willing to volunteer in any capacity just to get a taste of what it’s like.

“It’s a passion and if it becomes something more through the years, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Galger.

Whether it’s adults like Galger who want to fulfil those childhood dreams or kids who will see a dinosaur for the first time, Galger is excited for Scotty’s tourism potential for Regina.

“I think it’s going to be a really big boom,” he said. “Who else can say they have the world’s biggest T. rex? It’s right here.”

The museum’s display of Scotty will open to the public on Friday at 9:30 a.m.