Every time Geraldine Perry finds herself on Route 95 in Providence, she looks off to the side of the highway and gives a wink to her old friend, Nibbles Woodaway.

“I always say ‘Hi, Nibbles, it’s mom,’” the Tiverton resident said.

It’s been 34 years since Perry won a contest to name the big blue termite sculpture that serves as an iconic mascot for Big Blue Bug Solutions, formerly New England Pest Control, just off the southbound lane near Rhode Island Hospital. This year, she was given the honor of lighting nibbles’ holiday lights over the last week of November.

“They called me and asked if I could do the honors,” she said. “I said ‘Of course!’”

Perry gave the giant medal sculpture its enduring nickname in 1990 after learning about a naming contest — first place was a family trip to Disney World.

She actually came up with two other possible nicknames, including Gnarly Atwood (which earned honorable mention) and Homer Bugamidstus.

But Nibbles Woodaway stuck, and she said it came to her pretty easily:

“It’s the process of elimination,” she said. “You ask yourself, first of all, what is he? He’s a termite. Then, what do termites do? Well, they nibble on wood. So that’s how I came up with that.”

Perry said she has fond memories of that time, and recalls that her winning entry was announced on TV by George Allen, who used to do the ‘Dialing for Dollars’ show on Channel 6.

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