SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After a long winter that dropped 175 inches of snow in Sault Ste. Marie, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) held its Annual Snowman Burning Friday evening.

It represents saying good-riddance to Old Man Winter and welcoming in the new season on the first day of spring.

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Students, faculty, community members and leaders all attended.

The 12-foot snowman is made out of wood and shredded paper destined for the recycling bin, along with some straw, wire and some paint.

After ignition, the snowman turned to ash within minutes.

The history of the snowman burning.

According to LSSU, the first spring snowman burning was held in March 1971 by the Unicorn Hunters, a former campus club and traditionally is held on the first day of spring.

The burning takes its inspiration from the Rose Sunday Festival in Weinheim-an-der-Bergstrasse, Germany. In the festival, a parade passes through town to a central location where the mayor makes a proposal to the town’s children. If the children are good, study, obey their parents and work hard, he will order the (straw) snowman to be burned, and spring will officially arrive. After the children yell their approval and make their promise, the snowman is burned.

Some people hold that rising smoke rising from the fire is supposed to ward off blizzards and usher in spring-like weather. The Unicorn Hunters capitalized on this theory during the second or third year of the event. At that time, after the snowman was burned, a blizzard passed through the eastern Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula. However, it missed Sault Ste. Marie.

A toxic tradition? Protests cancelled the 1992 event.

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LSSU never knew just how many people enjoyed and followed snowman burning until the event was cancelled in 1992 due to environmental concerns. A student group, the Environmental Awareness Club, protested that many toxins are released into the atmosphere when a snowman burns. While this may be true, the University pointed out that its students and staff put many more contaminants in the air just by driving to school on any given day.

The Environmental Awareness Club’s concerns were brought to light the day before the event was to occur, and the PR office abruptly canceled that year’s burning. Officials said the event is supposed to be light-hearted and fun, and they didn’t want it to take on a negative tone. The PR Office suggested that employees and students leave their cars at home and walk to campus on that day to offset any environmental damage the burning snowman may have caused over the years.

On the day of the cancelled event, reporters called as expected, but so did many local residents, business people and city politicians who were furious.

It was the topic of conversation for weeks (and it still comes up!) and many students and radio personalities vowed to continue the 22-year tradition. A North Dakota radio station put organizers of the snowman burning on the air live during a call-in show. Every listener who called said he/she would vote to continue the tradition.

Radio, TV and newspaper reporters turned out on the day of the event to interview students on campus. Students gathered where the event was supposed to have occurred. They read poetry, passed out daffodils and called for the snowman to be burned. Needless to say, the tradition was resumed the following year.

Welcome, spring!