Building a snowman — it’s the most unique of Canadian of winter activities, using a fresh blanket of snow as the canvas.
And, this winter, Brighton residents can be rewarded for their snowman-building prowess with prizes during the inaugural Brighton Snowman Contest, which got underway on Jan. 17 and will continue until Feb. 21 during the Family Day weekend.
The contest was the brainchild of local realtor Ricardo Melendro who, after doing some online research, came to the realization a snowman-making competition had been lacking within the municipality.
Armed with that knowledge, he set out to change that narrative and is happy to lend his energy, not to mention his sponsorship of a number of prizes, to the cause of recognizing the very best examples of snowman making within the municipality.
“I was visiting in January with a relative and she mentioned that Brighton had never had a snowman-making contest, so I said ‘well, we should change that and make it more interesting and I was willing to sponsor it through my business’. But that, to me, was more secondary, what is important is trying to have the community be more outside, especially children,” said Melendro of his involvement.
Melendro said that now more than ever — with the COVID-19 pandemic marking its second year in existence — there’s a real need for children to engage in fun, outdoor activities.
“With the pandemic and the lack of snow, kids are indoors all the time, but now that we have snow at least kids have a reason and parents have an excuse to tell them to go out,” said Melendro.
After deciding to go ahead with the competition, Melendro created a public Facebook group — Brighton Snowman Contest — where all snowman photo entries can be uploaded and it’s where the winners in the various categories will be crowned.
The contest rules are simple: it’s open to everyone, children and adults, within the Municipality of Brighton. And, it doesn’t have to be a traditional snowman — it can be an animal or a sculpture, for example. Just get out to a park or your own yard and build something creative and unique.
There are five categories with prizes for each category winner. Categories include: Best Traditional Snowman, Funniest Creation, Most Creative, Most Snowmen on the Lawn and Most Fashionable Snowman.
So far, the Brighton Snowman Contest has been embraced by the community, with approximately 80 people being part of the online Facebook group so far. There have also been several photo entries already posted there.
Melendro has drafted three community members into judging the contest entries, including local newspaper reporter Natalie Hamilton, Brighton Councillor Ron Anderson, and local artist Des Rodrigues.
Ricardo Melendro Real Estate is donating a $30 gift certificate for the Brighton store/business of their choice to the winner in each category. Entrants will also be eligible to participate in a lucky draw with three additional prizes.
Complete rules are posted on the Brighton Snowman Contest Facebook page. If you’re not on Facebook, email your submission to ricardomelendro@royallepage.ca.
Melendro is hoping to make the snowman contest a yearly winter activity in Brighton.
“I’m very happy to sponsor it every year and make it a community event. I hope it grows and grows, you know. That would be fun,” he said.
