Remember This? Bon Soo

From the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library archives:

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Remember this? Bon Soo: A prescription for winter time blues!

Have you ever wondered where your favourite winter festival Bon Soo came from? 

The idea first originated with local businessman Henry Bullock in 1964. 

The purpose of the original carnival was to add some excitement and fun to the long winter months. 

Generally the city has an abundance of the most necessary resource for a winter carnival – snow!  

There were a number of existing events being held at the time and with the help of the Chamber of Commerce it was decided to bring all of these different events together under one carnival. 

What started out as simply a winter fun event for the community soon grew into a bigger event. 

The business and tourism community quickly saw the potential to boost revenue during what was a slow quarter.

The carnival needed a name and a contest was held to come up with something “catchy”.  

A ten-year-old student from Parkland Public School named Donald Norman submitted the winning entry. 

The carnival has become known as, of course, Bon Soo. 

The meaning behind the name was “Bon” meaning good and “Soo” the short form for Sault Ste. Marie. 

Local artist Ken MacDougall created the character that would come to embody the spirit of Bon Soo, this being the happy, smiling, snowy looking individual, Mr. Bon Soo that all children (and adults too) know and love. 

Over the years he has undergone a few minor alterations or updates in his appearance. 

His head was slightly reduced in size – originally the head weighed 75 pounds.  

The newly-minted Bon Soo carnival continued to grow over the years and was finally incorporated in 1978. 

There have been many different activities over the years. 

In the early years, the Miss Bon Soo pageant was a highlight to kick-off each year’s carnival.  

The queen and her royal court attended the events with Mr. Bon Soo during the festivities.  

However, according to a Sault Star article on June 10, 1993, the board of directors decided to discontinue the Miss Bon Soo pageant.

As with any carnival, events are dropped and new ones are added to keep the interest and excitement building. 

Bon Soo now boasts more than 100 events from Bum Slides, Polar Bear Swims, winter sports and ice/snow sculptures to name just a few. 

New for this year, the Polar Bear swim has been moved to become part of the opening weekend events and the Passport to Unity festival has been moved from May to become a part of the Bon Soo family and will be held on the last Sunday of the carnival.      

The budget of Bon Soo continues to grow.  

In 1995, Bon Soo’s Budget was $250,000 a far cry from the $2,000 budget of the first carnival in 1964. 

Because of the success of this carnival many other carnival organizers from other communities have approached the Bon Soo managers for advice, which is a testament to their success.  

The Bon Soo carnival embodies community engagement and winter fun and has grown from a small town event to a provincial tourist attraction, not bad for an idea to simply pass away the winter blues! 

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Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

Find out more of what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here