The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Mama Bear’ is this year’s Fowler Ave. attraction
Family creates giant sculptures each winter, to the joy of passersby
MIDDLETOWN — The head and shoulders of a massive polar bear sculpture rise from a giant pile of snow in the Westfield section of town.
This 10-foot-tall annual spectacle, built over the weekend, wowed passersby at the Fowler Avenue home of Karen TerrioMalave. These winter installations have become a neighborhood tradition, anticipated by residents and others curious about what the family will conjure up each season.
The sculpture in the yard, the sixth in the family’s series, has a blue-tinged base and features a colorful imitation fish in “Mama Bear’s” mouth. Terrio-Malave sent photographs of the freshly crafted figure as well as family and friends who joined in the effort.
“A bear just popped into my
head,” Terrio-Malave said Tuesday. “I wanted her eating a fish. Saturday really was a perfect day. With the bright sunshine, it made the snow a perfect sculpting consistency.”
This year, a small group of people assisted the effort, made all the more meaningful because of the pandemic, she said. “We’ve missed so many family events this year because of COVID. It was nice spending the afternoon together.”
Volunteers include her husband, Washington, son Will and his girlfriend Michelle Pritchard, brother Ken Terrio, cousins Jen and Shawn Hewitt and their son Colton, as well as neighbor Melissa Titus, Terrio-Malave said.
In 2018, the community was surprised by “Zadora, the sea protector,” which incorporated a basketball hoop, a feature inspired by her son Will, Malave, told The Press at the time. It took two days to create the installation, she said at the time.
Texx, Will’s pit bull graced their lawn in 2017. In 2015, the family settled on Drake the dragon. The 2013 sculpture was Gator the alligator. Another year featured Ivan the gargoyle.