Snowman Joe returns for another season

This is the ninth year that Joe has served as unofficial ‘mascot’ for the ALS Society of Quebec.

“Our family came up with the idea after my dad died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 2000,” Louise Boucher said.

In honour of her father, they decided to build a snowman on the front lawn.

“There is a picture of my dad with a huge snowman he built years ago; we had that photograph at the funeral,” she said.

Snowman Joe quickly became a means of raising awareness about the devastating disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), for which there is no known cause or cure.

Hoping to give Joe a higher profile, they eventually contacted the Town of Dollard des Ormeaux, and Joe has since become a six-foot fixture on the grounds of the Civic Centre each November. Joe will be recreated this Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

“He can last all winter, depending on the weather,” Boucher said.

The project has grown by degrees.

“A table is set up where we sell generic Snowman Joe greeting cards and writing pads which a friend of mine who is a graphic artist helped design, and in the past we’ve sold key-chains and T-shirts. There are also pamphlets and the cornflowers the ALS Society sells that they send to us.”

From Nov. 20 to 22, Boucher will be at Plaza Pointe Claire for the second year in a row, where she will be selling cards, decorations, and other items – including Snowman Joe cookies, a confectionary contribution from the mall’s Swiss Vienna Pastry.

Since the onset, the Snowman Joe project has raised about $8,000 for the ALS Society.

“The society needs a lot of money; so many people are suffering. Our goal is to help find the cause of ALS, how to get to the root of the problem. I believe it’s important to get the message out there,” she said, adding public awareness has been raised somewhat since former football player Tony Proudfoot of the Montreal Alouettes revealed he had the terminal illness.

“I have good friends, and everyone on board is so appreciated. I know my dad would have been proud.”

For more information about the ALS Society of Quebec, visit www.sla-quebec.ca.