Snow much fun

Resident finds joy in snow sculpture building

At 68 years old and “still healthy,” Dale Day still finds excitement and joy in building snow sculptures.

“I have four brothers and two sisters,” said Day, who has lived in the Willoughby area on and off for nearly 40 years. “We grew up playing in the snow and we would build snow igloos.”

In 1976, Day’s brother went out in the front yard — the front yard in Willoughby that most people see in the news and where a 12-foot abominable snowman was built. Years later, one of Day’s relatives’ younger boy repeatedly asked if they could build a snowman, Day said.

“I said someday when we think of something,” he recalled. “So, ‘Jurassic Park’ came along and I said we’re going to build a dinosaur. That got on CNN. I kept building. The other one was Titanic — the ship.”

Day said he continues to build and has received phone calls from people who had lived in Willoughby, as well as Oklahoma and Canada. The hardest part in building the snow sculptures is piling up the snow and having the right kind of weather.

“If you don’t have the right weather, you can’t build, so that’s always key,” Day said. “Plus, when you do (have the right weather), if it doesn’t get cold again, your sculpture only lasts a few days. When I did the Grinch, that was 23 feet tall. The face — I carved in about an hour. If it starts to re-freeze, it’s hard to carve again.”

When he was in grade school, Day’s parents divorced. However, they both remarried and Day still keeps in touch with his step relatives, he said. On Feb. 22, he built a snow sculpture that was based on one of his relatives’ cartoon characters.

“She likes to draw cartoon-type characters,” Day said. “I said I’m going to build you one of your cartoon characters if you want. She liked the idea. I went out there all on my own and built it, and it was done in a day.”

“The mayor says I put Willoughby on the map,” he continued. “The best thing is the kids. The kids enjoy the excitement of it. We do it for fun and, of course, a lot of the adults enjoy it as much as the kids.”

“The mayor says I put Willoughby on the map. The best thing is the kids. The kids enjoy the excitement of it. We do it for fun and, of course, a lot of the adults enjoy it as much as the kids.” — Dale Day, Willoughby resident

SUBMITTED At 68years old and “still healthy,” Dale Day still finds excitement and joy in building snow sculptures.