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Snowmen brighten lives of neighbours

Michel Grise does the shovelling, and Petrus Tung the sculpting, creating 12 snow people on a narrow lane in the Creekside Senior Estates in St. Davids.
Michel Grise does the shovelling, and Petrus Tung the sculpting, creating 12 snow people on a narrow lane in the Creekside Senior Estates in St. Davids.

The 17-acre property on Four Mile Creek Road, nestled into the Niagara Escarpment, is home to a thriving senior community, with members who believe in looking after their neighbours.

It’s also currently home to 12 life-size snowmen bordering a laneway inside the RV park, created by one of the residents as a bit of fun to lighten the mood of those feeling hemmed in by snow and COVID, and also to solve a practical solution to the problem of what to do with the huge snowfall of the last two weeks.

Petrus Tung and Michel Grise are newish members of the Creekside Senior Estates cooperative, on the east side of Four Mile Creek Road, just north of Townline Road.

It would be considered a cozy, upscale retirement park, but more than that, it’s a warm and close-knit community for those who choose to live there.

Tung says he purchased a home in the park for his mother, and when she passed away two years ago, he and his partner decided it was time to downsize and semi-retire from the Mississauga rat race, choosing to make the move to St. Davids. 

And while they love their quiet life there, a short drive from the city when they want to visit friends, they found the recent snow fall a challenge for the narrow roads the small lots front on.

Tung is creative, while Grise is practical — he shovelled the snow on the side of   the plowed road to widen it, and Tung got to work creating a bevy of snowmen, snowwomen, and even some little ones.

The project began after the first snowfall more than a week ago, and has grown to include 12 snowpeople, including three for a neighbour a couple of doors down.

It was another neighbour, Trixie, who called The Local to report on Tung’s creativity — she was thrilled to have such a cheerful view out her front window, and amazed at what he accomplished.

Asked why he set himself such a time-consuming task, Tung said, “why not? We have lots of snow. Why not play with it, have some fun, and do something useful?”

“The snow was piling up in the narrow roadway,” says Grise. “This was a good way to clear the road.”

And in doing so, Tung has been sculpting the snowbanks into something that lifts the spirits of his neighbours, he explained.

Tung is from Malaysia, a country that is hot and humid, and known for its rainforests and beaches. Snow was pretty much an alien concept to him until he came to Canada in 2004, but he likes the cold, Canadian winters.  

He and Grise moved to Creekside in 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning, Tung semi-retiring from his practice as a clinical registered psychotherapist, and Grise is a retired security officer with the Corps of Commissionaires.

“I listen to a lot of people’s problems,” says Tung. “This,” he says, gesturing to his family of snow people, “is all about having fun, and relaxing. It keeps you feeling young and positive. And I like to create something.”

He has been using bits and pieces of whatever he can find to decorate them — he’s braided the strings of an onion bag to make a smiley face, used bits of black rubber for eyes, and turned plastic bags into scarves and bowties.

Trixie next door donated Christmas ornaments for buttons on some of the sculptures, while the underside of beer bottles buried in the snow bellies become the buttons on others — he is creative with whatever he can find.

“I’m already thinking of what I can collect for next year,” he says.

Tung runs a mental health support group, with a goal of “balancing your life spirits,” physically and mentally, he says, and recommends “communing with nature, and communing with your inner child.”

He’s setting an example with his own actions, and lifting the spirits of his Creekside neighbours as they stop to chat. 

“We can’t change our environment,” he says. “Why not try to enjoy it?”

Petrus Tung and his neighbour Anne Howe in Creekside Seniors Estate, with the snowmen he sculpted for her behind them. (Photos supplied)
These are just some of the 12 snowmen Petrus Tung has made since the first heavy snowfall.



About the Author: Penny Coles

Penny Coles is editor of Niagara-on-the-Lake Local
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