'I'm going to continue to do it': Man undeterred after vandal attempts to destroy snow sculptures
Jared Clark loves to brighten his east London, Ont. neighbourhood with life-sized snow sculptures in the winter — and despite surveillance footage that recently depicted a real-life Grinch attempting to destroy the sculptures, Clark remains undeterred.
Jared Clark started creating snow sculptures at his Brisbin Street home nearly three years ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has since become a passion project.
“It started bringing so much joy to the community, and just seeing people light up, and their kids,” Clark told CTV News London’s Jim Knight on Tuesday.
For example, Carson Dawdy and his daughter Danica are big fans of Clark’s work.
“Oh we love them in the neighborhood!” said Dawdy. “The kids love going up to them, and touching them, and seeing them. It’s a lot of hard work that went into them, so it’s nice to see.”
Clark explained that when he wakes up in the morning he typically goes to check on his snow sculptures. But when he woke up one morning recently to check on his three snow dog sculptures, he noticed something odd.
Surveillance footage depicts a man punch and kick snow sculptures on Brisbin Street in London, Ont. in January 2023. (Source: Jared Clark)
“There was some snow in the one eye, and one dog was missing his eye,” he said. “So I decided to look into it a little bit further and lo and behold, the camera footage caught it all.”
The security footage revealed that overnight a man had approached Clark’s snow sculptures and proceed to punch and kick them repeatedly. But despite the act of vandalism, Clark wasn’t as upset as you might expect him to be.
“I kind of stopped laughing after watching the footage, but, payback was [kind of] given,” he said. “The dogs gave a little bit of bite, and it was pretty fun.”
Clark said it can take between three to five hours to build his sculptures, while the most elaborate ones can take upwards of 12 to 24 hours to complete.
Still, he remains determined in his mission to brighten his neighborhood.
“It’s unfortunate that it happened, but I’m going to continue to do it and make sure that I make people happy, and I’ll do it every year as much as I can as long as we have snow,” said Clark.
— With files from CTV News London’s Jim Knight
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.