Celebrate winter

After sparing us his full wrath the past few years, Ol’ Man Winter certainly has returned with a vengeance this season—with storm after storm dumping plenty of the white stuff across Borderland.
And we’re still barely three-quarters of the way through February.
But while we all may grumble about having to shovel so much snow and clear off roofs, this is Northwestern Ontario, after all, so we may as well make the best of it, whether that means enjoying a snowmobile outing, going for a snowshoe hike, or taking advantage of the excellent cross-country ski trails behind Eighth Street here in town or out at Rocky Inlet.
For those who may not be so adventurous, a community snow sculpturing contest is being staged here for a second year, which offers a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy our winter wonderland with family, friends, or co-workers.
Last year’s inaugural effort, organized by the newly-formed Rainy River Arts Collective, had to be scaled back due to a lack of entries. Undaunted, district native Samantha Manty, a Dawson College student doing a placement at the Fort Frances Museum, has stepped in to try again.
To her credit, everything seems to be falling into place despite the tight timeline, including the choice of a site between the East End Hall and old Huffman School, which town council approved at its meeting last night.
As Ms. Manty reasoned, having just one location (as opposed to being spread across town) “creates a sense of community” among the participants and hopefully encourages more people to come out and see the creations. As well, people can access the nearby hall to warm up or use the washrooms.
A “family day” also is planned for the Saturday (March 9), where people can skate, slide, and have hot chocolate.
With plenty of snow this year courtesy of Mother Nature, along with milder temperatures in the forecast, all that’s needed to see the Winter Sculpture Garden blossom into a real success is teams willing to showcase their creative skills from March 5-10.
It’s a great way to celebrate winter and generate some much-needed community spirit, and definitely worthy of our support.