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Frosty time on the Bay

Community comes together to play in the snow

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Repulse Bay (Oct 30/02) - There are times when some of the best ideas during the school year come right out of the blue.

So it was in the community of Repulse Bay earlier this month.

A beautiful autumn day led to an elementary teacher thinking the community should be taking advantage of the unseasonably mild weather at the Arctic Circle. Grade 4 teacher Christine Murray wanted to stage an event that would involve not only students at Tusarvik school, but members of the entire community.

The good weather had been bringing almost the entire school population out to play in the snow -- and that's when inspiration struck.

"It is too nice to be inside," exclaimed Murray, "We should be out making snowmen."

And, with that, an impromptu snowman building competition was staged for one balmy hour on a Friday afternoon earlier this month.

Mother Nature co-operated wholeheartedly with the event and the snow was just right for the students to let their artistic talents loose. The rules were simple. Each class at Tusarvik was given an hour to build the best snowman they could come up with.

"We saw lots of teamwork -- teachers helping students and students helping students. It really was a fun time."

The competition was intense between the classes. The voices of students shouting encouragement to one another rang out over the sounds of laughter echoing across the school grounds and reverberating around the hamlet.

A five-member panel, consisting of two elders, two RCMP officers and a member of the community, had the tough task of judging the event. The group of snow beings that sprung up from the event, was an impressive one.

Some of the snowmen were adorned with ball hats and scarves, while others had brightly coloured scarves wrapped around their necks. All objects were used to give their faces a touch of personality, and some were even readied to perform tasks such as being a crossing guard at the school.

"An idea that came on the spur of the moment and was said as a joke became a fun time for the whole school."