Viking ship sails to victory in snow sculpture contest
Jefri Nazri
Staff Writer
The annual snow sculpture competition organized by the Student Activities Office was held on Feb. 4 in the campus quad in front of the Siek Campus Center. The winners of the competition received Viking’s Cove Bookstore gift cards of $100, $50, and $25 for placing first, second and third, respectively. All participants received a movie ticket to Regal Cinemas.
This year, seven teams participated in the competition to let loose their creativity and imagination on the snow that was gathered from the storm that closed our college on Feb. 2. Each team was equipped with a shovel, a bucket, and various props.
Michaela Pickett, Firdous Madany, and Everett McNair won the competition with their Viking ship snow sculpture that was adorned with big tree branches as oars, a whale, and a mermaid surrounding it. Hudson Valley President Drew Matonak congratulated the first place winners and took a photo with them after the results were announced by Alfredo Balarin, assistant director of Student Life.
Dana Collado, an individual participant, created a dragon sculpture inspired from the Dreamworks Animation film How To Train Your Dragon. “I picked this spot by the campus center windows because there was a lot of snow here,” she said.
Felix Deion, Achynee Edmundson, and Jabir Hussein built an erupting snow volcano, with dried berries acting as lava pouring from the mouth of the snow volcano.
Mike Krajeski and his teammate did a replica of Bugdroid, the iconic green Android robot logo from Google Android, with two green shovels in its side to represent arms.
Casey Greenwood, Alex Shannon, and Casey Secor crafted a bunny rabbit. They initially wanted to make a dog or a cat, but the snow would not stick for them to design it.
Fanny Motey, Student Senate treasurer, sculpted a giant turtle in the middle of the campus quad with the help of Student Senate president Grace Harrison.
Jonathon Carroll, David Carroll, and Toni Lopresti built a Viking ship with tiny people on board, complete with a stern, shovels for oars, and a dragon on the ship’s prow.
“I personally think this competition was a great idea and that there should be more student activities like this on campus. I saw numerous students and faculty taking time to stop and appreciate the artwork that is being done. I think it’s wonderful and it promotes a sense of camaraderie around the campus. This is what makes Hudson Valley Community College great: it appreciates people just as much as it appreciates academics,” said liberal arts major Sherwood Ludwig.