'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
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.