2009 Winter Solstice Celebration

The days have been getting shorter and shorter, and the nights longer and longer, but that's almost over.

Come brave the cold and help us coax the sun back to this hemisphere and celebrate the longer days to come.


When: Sunday, December 20th, Noon-1pm, or later
Where: Council Grove State Park (take Mullan Road from Reserve St West for approx 6 miles. Turn left at sign for the park.)

A BBQ will be available (assuming we can get it fired up), so bring something to put on the grill.

Our annual snow sculpting event is being moved to January when we'll hopefully have more of the stuff available to sculpt. But if there's some snow on the ground on Sunday, we'll may do a little practicing, or maybe just divide up into teams and throw it at each other.

"Sunset ice sculptures" photo by Mark K.

M.A.S.S. 1st Annual Winter Solstice Snow Sculpting Festival

Winter Solstice Officially Arrives at Noon, Sunday December 21st, 2008.

Come join the Missoula Area Secular Society (M.A.S.S.) and build a snow sculpture or two to coax the sun back to our hemisphere. (If the days start getting longer on Monday, we'll know we succeeded.)



Where: Blue Mountain, on the south side of the road from the lower sledding area... generally.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/mass-winter-fest
When: Sunday December 21st, from 11:45 until everybody gets too cold to hang around any longer.
What to bring:
A) WARM SNOW CLOTHES!
B) An extra set of warm clothes to change into, especially shoes and socks. This is supposed to be fun, so don't make yourself miserable.
C) Snacks.

Other Recommendations:
a) Snow Shovel(s)
b) Large buckets and bins for making large blocks to sculpt and for hauling extra snow with.
c) Sled(s) for pulling buckets and bins filled with snow.
d) Child slave labor
e) Gardening and kitchen utensils for sculpting.
f) Spray bottle and extra water for 'setting' and 'fixing' details.
g) A ladder, if you plan on doing anything tall.
h) Plastic kitchen containers of all shapes and sizes.
i) An imagination
j) A camera

Make your sculpture as simple (standard snow person) or as complex (international space station) as you feel comfortable with. Don't be afraid to experiment and fail.

For hints on snow sculpting, check out:
http://fun.familyeducation.com/outdoor-games/winter/34936.html

For inspiration (or intimidation):
http://www.flickr.com/groups/snowsculptures/

Please be sure to take everything you bring with you back home again (especially children).