Snowking shuts 'er down
Second robbery in two weeks leaves King fuming

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 17/00) - The honour system has failed the Snowking, also known as Anthony Foliot, twice this year and it isn't going to happen again. For the second time in as many weeks donations collected at the snow castle have been stolen.

Immediately after realizing donations to his snow castle were stolen Wednesday, Snowking Anthony Foliot put up a sign informing visitors the castle was closed (Richard Gleeson/NNSL photo).

 

The latest theft occurred Wednesday afternoon between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. The thief or thieves made off with the donations and the large engraved jar they were stored in.

The donations were to be split evenly between a kids stage at Folk on the Rocks and upkeep and promotion of the castle.

Foliot said he was shocked when he noticed the jar was missing. It was kept in a room in the castle.

"It's got me so upset I want to bulldoze the castle right now," said Foliot. He said because of events that have been scheduled for the coming weeks, he'll keep the castle up.

The Frozen Dog Film Festival is scheduled for this Saturday and a photo exhibit for Sunday. The castle will be the setting for a children's play the following weekend.

"Right after Caribou Carnival I'm taking it down and I won't be doing it again, unless somebody gives the money and the jar back and restores my faith in the community," said Foliot, who has a Snowking Ball set to take place for Caribou Carnival weekend.

This is the first year thefts have occurred at the castle, which Foliot builds on his own time with some help from volunteers. Donations come from the steady stream of visitors attracted by the castle, the sculptures surrounding it, a slide and skating rink.

Asked if he was not willing to roll with the punches and continue on, Foliot replied, "I did that last week. If you get punched too many times you start to get mushy in the head."

Last year a total of $2,500 was collected and donated to the John Howard Society and the Abe Miller Centre.

Foliot said he searched the area around the castle for the jar, with no success.

He said a local teen confessed to last week's theft and agreed to work off the money, which the teen had already spent, by working at the castle. But the teenager has yet to show up.