Marty the Duck now presides over the lake at Frae-Ona Reserve on Calico Line in Marton.
The sculpture is a gift from resident Rona Rippon who turned 90 on Saturday. It was unveiled at a ceremony at the lake attended by 100 people yesterday.
The galvanised steel sculpture was commissioned by Mrs Rippon and created by artist Graeme Kiff in his Wanganui studio.
Mrs Rippon said she wanted to mark her 90th by adding something to the park that she and her late husband Frank Smith gifted to the Marton community in 1962.
"We lived in the house next door to the lake and this area was once our orchard - I left the one apple tree and we have added a number of ornamental trees over the years, including the Kate Sheppard magnolia."
Mrs Rippon said the name Frae-Ona is a combination of her own name and her husband and children's names.
"There were always ducks on the lake and people would come to the house to ask if they could feed them.
"Making it a reserve meant that people didn't have to travel all the way to Wanganui if they wanted to visit a lake and feed ducks." Picnic tables, benches and a pergola have been added over the years, along with a gated fence to make it safer.
"Trucks come quite fast down the Calico Line and a few ducks were lost when they strayed on to the road - they seemed to think the grass was greener on the other side."
Mrs Rippon said she wanted to leave a legacy to the community and thought a duck would be appropriate.
"I have called him Marty because he is the Marton duck - I didn't want to call him Donald and I wanted him to be white so he would stand out."
Sculptor Graeme Giff said he galvanised and powder-coated the duck to make it weatherproof and he is flying up from a stand of steel raupo cemented into the base.
Mrs Rippon said that as well as looking good, the sculpture will serve as a deterrent to children wandering too close to the lake's edge.