Yesterday a behind-the-wheel heartgawker almost collided with Bob and Bibi's love nest (Walter's fish cleaning house).
This morning at 6:15 a.m.my brother-in-law stopped his Subaru in front of Phil's, rolled down my sister's window at twenty below, pointed to Phil's Snow Hearts somewhere out there in the darkness. "Look out there sweetheart. It's your Valentine's Day card."
Snow hearts attract attention
Pelican Rapids man creates holiday sculptures on Lida
Phil Cowie has made snow sculptures for 10 years near his Lake Lida home.
Published Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentine’s Day seems the appropriate day for snow sculpture enthusiast Phil Cowie to display his Valentine creations on the south side of Lake Lida east of Pelican Rapids.
It’s not only creating the Valentine formations that was fun for Cowie — but also the application of red tempera paint for the final work on his masterpieces, he said.
“You simply use a spray bottle,” Cowie said of the paint job. “In the case of Valentines, we used lots of red paint.”
His hobby began a decade ago. After clearing snow to create a skating rink he thought that there must be a good way to make use of all the excess snow. That’s when the idea of making snow sculptures came to mind.
He logged onto the Internet and found that snow sculptors around the country use plywood forms which are filled with snow. After bonding the fun work begins.
“Ionic bonding holds the snow together,” Cowie said. “You need to keep the forms and snow in place for a minimum of six hours. Oftentimes I leave everything overnight, to make sure the proper bonding takes place.”
Cowie also gained some knowledge several years ago by competing in the annual ice carving contest at the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Over the years Cowie has created many snow sculptors in addition to Valentine themes. He’s created birds and many works of art with special lettering. This year was no exception. Cowie is a native of Rothsay who formerly worked as a chef in Fargo. In the summer, he works at nearby Maple Beach Resort. He and his wife, Rita, an RN at the MeritCare Clinic in Pelican Rapids, have lived at Lake Lida for 17 years with their children, Britta, 15, and son, Drew, 8.
“It’s fun to see people slow down when they approach the snow sculptures by vehicle along Highway 108 close to the lake,” Cowie said. “Some people actually stop the vehicle and take some quick photos.”
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