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First sign of spring - LSSU prepares to burn a snowman

The first day of spring, we want you to know, is just eight days away. It officially arrives at 8 p.m. next Thursday, March 20, and Lake Superior State University is planning to hold its traditional snowman-burning ceremony just before noon that day.
LSSUSnowman

The first day of spring, we want you to know, is just eight days away.

It officially arrives at 8 p.m. next Thursday, March 20, and Lake Superior State University is planning to hold its traditional snowman-burning ceremony just before noon that day.

Our photo shows an LSSU snowman being joyously torched during an earlier vernal equinox.

The following is the full text of a news release received from LSSU:

************** LSSU snowman burning set for March 20, first day of spring

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Lake Superior State University will kick Old Man Winter out the door on the first day of spring, Thursday, March 20, when it holds its annual Snowman Burning.

With Lake Superior freezing over this year and sub-zero temperatures staying in the area for weeks at a time, Eastern U.P. and northern Ontario residents seem ready for the return of warmer weather. LSSU will burn the snowman, as it has done since 1971, just before noon in front of the Walker Cisler Center. Spring will officially arrive at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Members of the community are welcome to join in this annual springtime tradition, either to read poetry, toast the snowman’s demise with a mug of hot chocolate, or simply to watch.

LSSU Student Government will be grilling hot dogs during the ceremony. Snowman burning at LSSU was started by the Unicorn Hunters, a former campus club.

The LSSU tradition was inspired by the Rose Sunday Festival in Weinheim-en-der-Bergstrasse, Germany. In the festival, a straw snowman is burned in the village square.

The town of Helvetia, West Virginia, has a similar end-of-winter celebration called Fasnacht. It is based on a Swiss tradition and features the burning of Old Man Winter in effigy. Students and employees of the University’s maintenance department construct the snowman.

It is made mostly from paper destined for the recycling bin, along with a wood and wire frame. Poetry has been a cornerstone event at most snowman burnings.

LSSU students, employees, retirees, area residents, and elementary school children are encouraged to write their own short poetry and read it while the torch is applied to the snowman.

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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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