The Snowman International Airport is Open!

Greetings from the Snowman International Airport...
in Norway!

[Photo: NRK]: http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/25/92545/1590/travel/Yes%2C+This+Exists%3A+
Snowman+International+Airport]

Bardufoss Airport sits pretty close to the top of Norway, so it really doesn’t
get that much airplane action throughout the year. That’s why the folks in
the marketing department decided to rebrand the airport and rename it the
"Snowman International Airport."

The airport officials are hoping that this can get their little airport on the map.
Technically, it’s still going to be called Bardufoss Airport— BDU for those
collecting airport codes—but for all other purposes this is the airport where
snowmen (and snow-women) catch their flights for all those business trips.

A charter flight from the UK landed over the weekend to check it out,
but as of now, there’s no transatlantic service planned to and from the airport.

Unfortunately, not all are pleased with the name change; some locals are
taking the stance that the idea is tasteless and ridiculous. It seems that this
re-naming has nothing to do history and culture of the region...but hey - in the
world of snowmen...we'd love to get a t-shirt from the airport gift shop!

You can read more: http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/troms_og_finnmark/1.7556312

This story was first posted at: http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/25/92545/1590/travel/Yes%2C+This+Exists%3A+Snowman+International+Airport

It's National Burn A Snowman Day!

Somewhere in the US snowmen are burning...
and Welcoming Spring!
Snowman Burning Day was first celebrated in March of 1971 at
LSSU by the Unicorn Hunters. It was created to celebrate the
transition from winter to spring.

[photo from http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/national_snowman_burning_day.html]

Snowmen are made out of wood, paper destined for the recycling bin, along
with some straw, wire and some paint. They are usually husky and
stand 10 to 12 feet tall.

The burning takes its inspiration from the Rose Sunday Festival in
Weinheim-an-der-Bergstrasse, Germany. In the festival, a parade passes
through town to a central location, where the mayor makes a proposal to
the town's children. If the children are good, study, obey their parents and
work hard, he will order the (straw) snowman to be burned, and spring will
officially arrive. After the children yell their approval and make their promise,
the snowman is burned.

Some people hold that rising smoke rising from the fire is supposed to ward
off blizzards and usher in spring-like weather. The Unicorn Hunters capitalized
on this theory during the second or third year of the event. At that time,
after the snowman was burned, a blizzard passed through the eastern
Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula but missed Sault Ste. Marie.

You can read more about this holiday (and see some historical pictures
and great videos!) at Lake Superior State University website:
http://www.lssu.edu/snowman/

Union Until Thaw?

Snowmen come out to protest in Capitol Square Wisconsin.
from: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/photos/eco-photos-of-the-week-feb-27-march-5/snowman-union

[photo: OnTask/Flickr]

For the past two weeks, the city has been the site of extended pro-union protests
in an effort to maintain collective bargaining rights that may be stripped away
under proposed legislation.

Thank you to our friend DH who sent us this story!

Spring is coming, but some snowmen are Growing!

Giant Snowman Shows Up in Washington State...
The weather is warming up on the east coast, but the snowmen
are still very large out west!
as reported by SUSAN WYATT / KING 5 News
http://www.king5.com/news/Giant-snowman-shows-up-in-Darrington-yard-117248858.html

[photo by Kirristi Trickett © 2011 ]
Residents of Darrington, Washington were delighted to find a huge snowman
in the front yard of a home. The snowman, with a rope for a mouth and pie-tin eyes,
stands at least 15 feet tall.

Kirristi Trickett snapped a photo of his son Aiden to illustrate the enormity of
the jolly giant. "The eyes light up at night," she said.

Aiden Trickett with his snowman [photo by Kirristi Trickett © 2011 ]

[photo by Kirristi Trickett © 2011 ]
Darrington, about 75 miles north of Seattle, was buried under
four feet of snow in recent storms.