A Winnipeg woman’s plans to build a snowman have turned into something much more ambitious — a frozen menagerie of more than a dozen bears on her St. Vital property.
Vinora Bennett said her project has drawn the attention of her Barrington Avenue neighbours, and is turning into a fun way to engage people during the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was really wanting to build a snowman in my backyard, but the snow wasn’t sticky,” Bennett told Global News.
“I added some water and started building the snowman… it worked really well, so I started thinking of different things I could build. I built two bears in the front yard and people were liking it, so I just kept on going.
“I realized after that we’re living on Barrington (bear-ington) — how convenient.”
Bennett said two bears turned into more and more until they were scattered all over her front yard.
“I asked my neighbours if I could use some of their snow — I was running out of snow — and I just kept going,” she said.
“When I was building my first bear, people started walking and complimenting me and really appreciating it. I wasn’t expecting people to love it so much.
“It’s just a great feeling putting smiles on people’s faces.”
“All of a sudden, there’s people from the community on our street, and I’m seeing more people again. It’s such a good feeling. It’s a change of scenery.”