The community gathered to watch Lake Superior State University’s 51st snowman and its first ever burn box burn in exchange for rejuvenation at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 18 outside of Walker Cisler Student & Conference Center.
“This year’s theme is burning away negativity,” said LSSU Dean of Student Affairs Michael Beazley. “It is the burning away of winter and welcoming in of spring.”
National Weather Service records have indicated a Sault Ste. Marie seasonal snowfall average of 120.4 inches, reporting above average snowfall in 2022. After years of COVID-19 and related state mandated executive orders aimed at mitigating its spread, many are ready to move forward.
As snowfall tapers off and accumulation begins melting away, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention simultaneously reports 26 cases throughout the county.
“For the past two years, we’ve all been suffering through challenges associated with COVID-19, its tragedies and negativity, ” said Beazley. “We want to take this as an opportunity to burn all that away.”
Unlike prior years, students, faculty and visitors placed notes into a burn box set out by Associate Dean of Students Sharmay Wood.
“We have invited people to drop in index cards with whatever negative thing in their life that they want to burn away,” said Beazley just before setting the snowman on fire. “When we set the snowman ablaze, we will ablaze the negativity.”
Associate Dean of Student Affairs Sharmay Wood was just one of the many who watched her bad thoughts and memories turn to ash, but not before the LSSU English club said what they needed to get out.
Lake Superior State University student Ka’Von Jackson delivered three poems to listening ears, the first was “I can’t do this.”
“I can’t do this. Yep, you heard me. I. Can’t. Do. This. I wanted to see things your way. And I tried to keep my feelings at bay. I tried to remain tried and true. But to whom was I being true to? Certainly not me; definitely not you. So, honestly, I’m through... ‘cause I.
Can’t. Do. This. I was at every side-eye; every put down; every base comment; every frown. I rebuke all the petty quips from those hate filled lips. I reject you at your worst; I need to put ‘Me’ first.”
Jackson received a round of applause after casting away any and all hateful energies to start anew this spring.
“It is about releasing negativity,” said Jackson about his poem. “It is about recognizing when someone has too much control in your life, impacting you negatively and turning you into a negative person. It’s about deciding that you’d rather protect yourself and put yourself first.”
The other poets followed and spectators watched as Beazley set the snowman and its box full of negativity on fire.
According to the Lake Superior State University website, the first spring snowman burning was held in March 1971 by a former campus club called “Unicorn Hunters.”
It is traditionally held on the first day of spring to say, “Bye” to winter and “Hello” to spring. The snowman burning is derived from the Rose Sunday Festival in Weinheim-an-der-Bergstrasse, Germany.