Chamber, TAMC to sponsor first-ever
Snowman and Snow Sculpture Contest
PRESQUE ISLE — A new contest in the Presque Isle area is challenging businesses, organizations and residents to turn the Star City — and neighboring towns — into the Snow City during the second week of February.
A 20-FOOT TALL SNOWMAN created by the maintenance and quality management services departments at The Aroostook Medical Center last year was a key attraction during the health care organization’s annual Winter Carnival event. This year the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce and TAMC officials are hoping to see more impressive snow sculptures and snowmen throughout the region as they co-sponsor the first-ever Star City Snowman and Snow Sculpture Contest Feb. 9-15.
The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce and The Aroostook Medical Center are co-sponsoring the first-ever Star City Snowman and Snow Sculpture Contest that will run Feb. 9-15. All communities served by the chamber of commerce, and those with TAMC facilities, are invited to enter the contest. Entry forms can be found on both the chamber and TAMC websites.
Registration forms for the contest must be submitted to the chamber no later than noon on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 will be awarded to the best community entries by the TAMC Total Health Team for first, second and third place, respectively.
“The Aroostook County area is known for its signature summer events. Nearly every community hosts a celebration that both engages local community members and brings in visitors from away,” said Theresa Fowler, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce. “As an organization, we have been considering what we might do to develop a wintertime event that would become a new tradition for our area. Winter brings many visitors to our region to enjoy the snow. We hope the introduction of the Snowman and Snow Sculpture contest this year will both provide a new opportunity for area residents to enjoy the snow and serve as a stepping-off point for a larger event in future years.”
According to Fowler, the idea for the contest came from a similar and very successful event hosted by TAMC a year ago. The health care center held a snowman and snow sculpture contest as part of its annual Winter Carnival. The festivities were hosted by the TAMC Total Health Team during the non-profit organization’s centennial year celebration.
The TAMC Total Health Team is dedicated to providing TAMC employees and their families with the tools to improve and maintain their own total health. The goal of the group is to help employees make educated choices about health care coverage, health care utilization, and healthy day-to-day living.
A number of TAMC facilities, departments, employees and their family members participated in the competition, creating impressive creations in the snow. Among them was the much talked about, 20-foot tall snowman created by the maintenance and quality management services departments that towered by the emergency department entrance at TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital on Academy Street.
“So many members of the TAMC team enjoyed the snowman and snow sculpture making competition. It really brought people together and inspired a great deal of creativity,” said Gene Curtis, co-chair of the TAMC Total Health Team and director of support services. “When we sat down to begin planning the event for this year’s winter carnival, we thought it would be a good idea to invite the community to join in the snowman and snow sculpture contest.”
The competition is open to all businesses, as well as organizations and residents in the communities of Ashland, Blaine, Castle Hill, Chapman, Easton, Mapleton, Mars Hill, Masardis, Oxbow, Portage Lake, Presque Isle, Washburn and Westfield, all towns served by the chamber of commerce. In addition, the contest is open to businesses, organizations and residents in Fort Fairfield and Caribou where TAMC Health Centers are located along with Presque Isle, Mars Hill and Ashland.
“We are looking to employers and their employees to get together and come up with a creation to build in front of their place of business, for organizations of all sizes to bring together their members and volunteers, and for families and neighbors to consider putting together a creation to decorate their neighborhood,” said Dawn Poitras, co-chair of the TAMC Total Health Team, manager of therapy services, and chamber board member. “It’s all about getting out and active in the snow, using your creativity, and most of all having fun!”
To encourage creativity, organizers have not set a specific theme and are not issuing overly detailed guidelines for the inaugural contest. The only requirements are that official entry forms must be submitted to the chamber by the Feb. 12 deadline, and that entries will be judged Friday, Feb. 15, in whatever condition the snow creations are in at the time the panel of judges arrives on site.
A similar contest for hospital employees, who will make their creations on-site at one of TAMC’s facilities in central Aroostook during this year’s TAMC Winter Carnival, will coincide with the region-wide contest. Separate prizes will be awarded for the top TAMC entries.
For more information on the contest or to download an application, visit www.centralaroostookchamber.com or www.tamc.org, or call the chamber at 764-6561.
