LSSU welcomes spring with annual snowman burning
SAULT STE. MARIE — Lake Superior State University staff and students are preparing to set a massive snowman aflame to burn away negativity and celebrate the spring season.
Every year, LSSU burns a massive snowman effigy on the first day of spring, to celebrate and welcome the new season.
"It's about bringing people together and getting them excited for the springtime and the summer," said LSSU Dean of Student Affairs Michael Beazley.
This year marks the 51st year of the celebration, which began as a way to celebrate the end of winter. The tradition is based on the Rose Sunday Festival held in Weinheim-an-der-Bergstrasse, Germany, which the town uses to mark the beginning of spring — as long as the children are well-behaved.
When the tradition was introduced to LSSU in the 1970s, it quickly became a favorite of students and staff and grew into one of the most popular traditions on campus. It became so popular that attempts to end the festival were met with outcry from students and the tradition was reinstated.
The tradition is even popular among locals and LSSU staff who bring their families.
"People bring their kids, people come from nearby neighborhoods and have a great time," said Beazley.
Every year, as close to the first day of spring as possible, LSSU creates a giant snowman figure out of a wire frame, paper mache and other shredded paper. The materials are collected throughout the year in preparation out of recycled and used paper, so material isn't wasted.
Subscribe:Get unlimited access to our coverage
The festival also holds other meanings, each year the celebration has a new meaning, to help people adjust to the upcoming season.
In seasons past the school had themes such as rebirth, and out with the old; this year, it will be getting rid of negativity.
"I think we can all see there's been a lot of negativity the past few years with world events," said Beazley. "So we have people write down the things that are bothering them, what it is in their lives that they want to burn away. As the snowman goes up in flames, so does the negativity."
Following a global pandemic that forced the tradition to be canceled, the student body wished for a chance to symbolically get rid of their negative feelings. Students will have a chance to write down a message and put them onto the snowman to burn away those feelings.
The burning will take place at 5:30 p.m. March 20 outside the Cisler Center, followed by a reception with food and drinks inside the building.
The event will begin with a poetry reading from LSSU students before President Rodney Hanley will be lighting the flame at around 6 p.m.
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: LSSU welcomes spring with annual snowman burning
