Goo-goo g’joob.
You may not be the walrus. But you can venture to an Alcona neighbourhood and at least become one with him for a bit.
Innisfil resident Ken Weichel, 68, has made a huge snow sculpture of the marine mammal, complete with a slide down its back, on his front yard at 1960 Ashwood Ave.
Work began around Christmastime, though it wasn’t until a little bit of packing snow fell a few days ago that he could add finishing touches like the tusks, mouth, nostrils, eyes and bristle holes.
“You need good packing snow so you can carve it,” he said, noting inspiration came from a Google search that revealed similar works in New Hampshire and northern Quebec. “They get good snow and get to keep it — we don’t. You have to look around. The last packing snow we got, I was able to pack six or eight inches onto the outside of him, and then when it got a little bit warmer, I was able to finish him.”
Weichel named his latest work “Wally” — an homage to characters from Woody Woodpecker and PAW Patrol.
But he’s been making sculptures on his property for about a decade, starting in the backyard with ice castles but then transferring over to the front lawn to build a giant Olaf from the movie Frozen in 2020. Since then, he’s built a whale, a tortoise and a Valentine’s Day-themed teddy bear, though he actually had to skip last winter due to a lack of consistent snowfall.
“We couldn’t make anything,” he said. “With my health and soreness, this was a harder one this year. The tortoise was the most difficult. The whale was hard because it wasn’t good snow and I couldn’t form him or get it smooth. This one was easier to sculpt, but the hard part is getting the base.”
He estimates there are about 10,000 shovel scoops’ worth of snow in Wally, taken by foot from around his property, as well as neighbours’ lawns and a nearby park.
All this effort is for his grandchildren, with whom he shares a home.
“Every morning and after school, they’re on it,” he said. “They play on it all the time. And at school, they’re rockstars.”
While this stretch of Ashwood becomes busier for a few weeks — a local childcare centre even reroutes its bus to go past the sculpture — neighbours seem to love the effort.
As InnisfilToday arrived on a sunny but frigid Wednesday afternoon, a grandmother was watching her young granddaughter use the slide.
“We really appreciate what he’s done,” the woman said. “It’s neat.”
And a consistent stream of people could be seen taking photos from the sidewalk across the street.
“Please come by, have a pic with it and enjoy,” Weichel said. “It’s for the community. That’s what it’s here for. Come on up. It’s facing outwards, not in.”
If the cold weather holds, Wally should stay largely intact until sometime in March, Weichel said.