Friday Fun – Snow Sculptures to Help Save Lives in Haiti

What do three energetic brothers, who want to help save lives, do in the dead of Minnesota winters when surrounded by tons of snow?  Build snow sculptures … of course!

Let’s begin by viewing some of the creations of the Bartz brothers from New Brighton, MN: Austin (21), Trevor (20) and Connor (17).  It began, like it did for a lot of us growing up in Northern climates, with building snow forts.

As they got older, they decided to get more creative.  They first started out building a Pufferfish built in the 2011-12 winter after one of the brothers caught one on a family trip to Florida.  It took the brothers two hours to get the main body done, another hour and a half to mold and attach the tail, and then another four hours to add the spikes.  And if you look close, you’ll see a tiny fish in the Pufferfish’s mouth.

The following winter the brothers sculpted a Walrus – and the thing didn’t melt until May!  In fact they now have a contest guessing when the last of their creations will revert to water.  And the winner gets a copy of National Geographic’s “100 Things to Make You Happy” which features the Bartz brothers.

They decided that their creations would stick with the “sea world” theme, so the next winter they went to the dark side – and did a Shark!  “Jaws” was 25’ long x 9’ wide and 16’ tall, and it took over 95 hours to construct.

You may be wondering where they get all their snow, because you can see from the photos that there front yard is still covered with it.  They explained the snow comes from their neighbors’ driveways, tennis courts and church parking lots.  How’s that for a neat snow-removal service?

And if it’s too cold when it snow, producing that great powder that skiers love – but is terrible for sculpting – they store in their garage, crank the heat up to 90 degrees … and wait until it’s packable!

While they clearly got a kick from crafting the shark, they learned that a lot of the little kids that come to visit their front yard from literally around the world, found it too scary.  So the winter of 2014-15 they did a “gentle” Sea Turtle.

It’s pretty clear their projects are getting bigger and more elaborate.  Mr. Turtle (who has a striking resemblance to Mitch McConnell) is 37’ long x 31’ wide x 12’ tall, and it took 300 hours to put him together.  (Wouldn’t it be great if McConnell would just melt away like this guy did?)

 

It was in January of 2015 they decided to take the suggestion of so many visitors who wanted to donate and put their talents to use in a positive way.  So this year they partnered with One Day’s Wages charity and setup a fund to help Haitians in procuring safe, potable water – a real rarity in that poor nation.

I’ll let the Bartz brothers explain it in fuller detail:

Five Years Running

For five years, we have built an annual snow sculpture as a way to get outside, hang out together, and bring a little cheer to our community—and, as news spread, to the world.

For several years, community supporters who were moved by our work told us we should erect some sort of donation box where they could toss in a few bucks in exchange for the joy they felt as they drove by, and this year, we finally took their advice. Given the sole raw asset of our work—snow—we thought it made sense to have collected monies go toward providing clean drinking water for people in need.

Why Water Matters

According to the World Health Organization, nearly one million people die each year due to lack of clean drinking water – a situation residents of Haiti, the poorest country in the West, know all too well. `More than 40 percent of Haitians have no improved water source, which means they’re relegated to drinking contaminated water and thus contracting totally avoidable diseases.

Our partnership organization, One Day’s Wages, works with International Action to solve this problem by installing community-operated clean-water chlorinators into three areas in Haiti that need the assistance most.

Now, Here's Where You Come In

If you would like to join us in providing safe, clean water for Haiti, please contribute at the donation box or online between the dates of January 5 and March 5, 2016 below. Our goal is to raise $10,000 during this two-month period,

For more information on One Day’s Wages clean-water initiative in Haiti, please visit www.onedayswages.org/haiti 100% of donations go straight to this cause.

***UPDATE***

One Day's Wages' partnership with International Action providing clean water in Haiti has been funded!  Donations to the Bartz Brothers "Sculpting Snow for a Life-Saving Cause" on this page will now go to clean water projects in other parts of the world experiencing extreme poverty. 100% of donations go straight to the work on the ground! Thank you for joining us in providing clean water by donating below!

So let’s take a look at this year’s creation that has raised almost $14,000 and still counting (you can donate until March 5^th) – “Octavius Octopus” (so named by Facebook visitors in another contest).

“Octavius” stands 18’ tall and took approximately 500 hours to complete – and they calculate he weighs 300,000 pounds!  He’s clearly their most ambitious and elaborate engineering project so far.  The Bartz brothers say they plan to do two more sculptures before they put away their shovels – and we’ll all be looking forward to it!

Besides well-deserved local coverage, the brothers have been featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and NBC’s “Today” and “Nightly News” shows.

To learn more about the Bartz Brothers Snow Sculptures, the easiest place to start is their publicly available Facebook page. 

It includes more information and links to their partnering with “One Day’s Wages” charity to raise funds for providing clean water in Haiti.

Thanks guys!  Not only do you do great work, but your great works do great work!  No doubt the people of Haiti say “Thank You!”