Potsdam celebrated winter and small town culture through its annual snowman building competition.
POSTDAM, N.Y. (NCC News) — Potsdam, a small town not far from the Canadian border in New York’s North Country, is no stranger to snow.
So, it’s not surprising that it used to have snow sculpture competitions that started in the 1940s and ran until about the 1980s.
The locals would build dinosaurs and couches out of the piles of snow dumped on their front lawns and parks.
The Potsdam Public History Museum has photographs of what the townspeople created. That’s where Sharon Williams, the executive director of the North Country’s Children’s Museum, first found out about the competition from years prior.
“And I thought ‘You know what? That’s kind of sad….We could do a snowman competition,’” Williams said. “It’s a little bit of the idea that all of the people are coming together in the village. But instead of people, they’re snow people coming together in the village — representations of us in our town park.”
During the pandemic, Williams and the directors of the arts council and Potsdam Chamber of Commerce created Frosty Fest.
The timing was perfect. Williams said the first Frosty Fest was popular because there was nothing happening.
Williams and other Potsdam community leaders started the Frosty Fest to have an event that revives the tradition of celebrating winter in Potsdam.
Package Script
MYER LEE: Old photos from the Potsdam Public Museum of snow dinosaurs and couches were inspirational to Sharon Williams.
The pictures were keepsakes of the Snow Sculpture competition that the village celebrated for nearly 40 years.
SHARON WILLIAMS: I thought you know what. That’s kind of sad. Potsdam doesn’t really have a winter event like some of the other North Country towns and this would be a cool thing to bring back.
LEE: She and other local community leaders created Frosty Fest, a snowman building competition that revived the tradition of celebrating winter in Potsdam.
WILLIAMS: It’s a little bit of the idea that all of the people are coming together in the village but instead of people, they’re snow people coming together in the village. Representations of us in our town park.
LEE: Sharon Williams said that this event’s turnout always varies. But as you can see, the turnout this year has been wonderful.
What’s so great about this event is that they’re not only able to build snowmen in order to compete. They can build whatever their creativity inspires them to build.
For the policemen who come every year, they like to build their own snowman policeman.
LEE: Local resident Maggie McKenna helped Williams start the event during the pandemic. She and her family attend Frosty Fest every year.
MAGGIE McKENNA: There’s so much fun to be had. It was just a really fun way to collaborate as a nonprofit organization in Potsdam but also as community members wanting to bring families out to have a good time even in the hardest of times.
LEE: Brutally cold weather or uncooperative snow won’t stop Potsdam.
Williams says the community supports the event by donating food and drinks to the competition every year.
WILLIAMS: The community’s creative and they make it work. And it’s super fun to walk around and see what people have done.
People are ready to celebrate winter and be part of a community event. And just come out and have fun together with some really healthy community spirit competition.
LEE: Myer Lee, NCC News
Williams hosted the event again in late January at Ives Park. And although the snow wasn’t great for building and temperature was in the teens, dozens of locals still came out to roast marshmallows by the fire and frosty artworks.
Maggie McKenna, the former director of the arts council who helped found Frosty Fest, attended with her two daughters and husband.
“There’s so much fun to be had,” McKenna said. “It was just a really fun way to collaborate as a nonprofit organization in Potsdam but also as community members wanting to bring families out to have a good time even in the hardest of times.”
The McKenna family — proud artists — decided to create a moon and with the planets surrounding.
McKenna’s youngest daughter, Penny, reminded her mother they win an award in the competition every year. The McKennas took home the honor of “most artistic” for their moon project.
They had steep competition. Williams was impressed. She liked the snow sculptures of a frog, a dog with a bone, and a turtle. In past years, she’s seen snow fish and vampires.
The local police even returned to build their snow cop — as they do annually. Local businesses donate prizes, food and drinks to Frosty Fest.
Williams grew up in Maryland and said she never had a real winter. She moved her family up north to be closer to family.
She loves going to big cities and all they offer. Being in a remote, cold town like Potsdam that has some economic challenges, she said, can sometimes create a collective low self-esteem about where they live.
She’s said she’s proud, however, to be part of the creation of the charm that attracts people to the small towns like Potsdam. She likes to remind residents of that charm.
“There’s a lot of possibility,” Williams said. “You just have to look for it, create and find ways to bring people together.”
Frosty Fest has even reached longtime Potsdam natives. Williams said they remember the old snow sculpture competitions. Williams posts pictures from Frosty Fest on Facebook and the “old-timers” — as she calls them — will comment saying, “It’s just like the old days,” Williams said.
“The people that have grown up here and moved away….have really seen that connection and we brought something back that’s really meaningful for people,” Williams said.