by Thomas Smith

This weekend marked my first ever Dorset Snowball.

I must say, I am thoroughly impressed.

Mother Nature luckily cooperated for my first ever Snowball and provided said snow to make said balls.

I thought I was prepared for the cold but boy, was I wrong. Within minutes of getting out of the car, my feet felt like numb bricks.

Steve Morrin says it was a nice day for February, but my digits shudder at the thought of it being even colder.

The first thing I noticed at the Snowball? Every single snowbank had a child climbing to the peak. The adults were far away huddled together for warmth, with the occasional thumbs up telling the kid to keep climbing. Those kids must have been in heaven.

Pure and unadulterated childhood whimsy.

I was exceptionally jealous.

Like a fly, my nose drew me closer to the Dorset Community Centre. The smell of boiling maple syrup and sizzling peameal bacon nearly tricked me into having a second breakfast.

I opened my wallet to purchase some maple taffy from the Emes Family Maple Syrup stall but was shocked and delighted to learn that the samples of maple taffy were free.

I didn’t even feel bad about the children I trampled trying to buy some.

“If you’re not in Dorset, you’re not anywhere!” shouted the Town Crier, drawing a crowd.

I have been thinking deeply about what this means.

Surely, there are more places than Dorset. I mean, Minden and Haliburton are pretty close too?

My expectations of the Dorset Snowball were not particularly high. To provide some context, the only other small town festival I could compare to is the Mudcat Festival in Dunnville, Ontario. Both of these celebrations have entirely different vibes. The Mudcat Festival has a rather large beer garden. However, I don’t think the Dorset Snowball Winter Carnival needs anything like that. It has entertainment, great food, activities for the kids, and welcomes everyone from throughout the neighbouring communities to celebrate the winter.

The Dorset Snowball was an intimate, small town event that made me feel welcomed within the community.

That is what the Town Crier meant. No matter where you come from, when you come to the Dorset Snowball, you become a member of a secret club. A secret club that knows how much fun it is to climb to the peaks of every snowbank like Everest, the sweetness of maple taffy, and how much fun it is to venture out into the cold and celebrate what family fun there is to have in snow-covered Dorset.

My only regret? I didn’t try those peameal bacon sandwiches that the Dorset Lions Club were serving.

Maybe next year.