After a winter storm blew in the week of Christmas, gifting much of southern Alberta with between 20-40 centimetres of snow in some parts, many of the smaller residential streets were socked in as the Town’s plows focused on clearing main routes.
Nevin Jones and Kyle Diggins, who live on Sheep River Link, took it upon themselves to dig out their neighbours on Christmas Eve and had a little fun in the process.
Jones and Diggins, working for Sunbelt Rentals and KC Landscaping, respectively, didn’t have to ask Santa for heavy machinery.
With their bosses' blessing, they borrowed the heavy machinery to remove the incredible volume of snow from their street, with much of it finding its way to Jones’ front lawn, forming what the families dubbed "Mount Crumpet".
“As we piled it, I sat there on the 24th of December with nothing better to do and decided I was gonna build a massive toboggan hill for the kids,” Jones, a father of two, said.
The two families took shovels to the heap of snow, carving out slides and adorning the summit of Mount Crumpet with a Grinch-style Christmas tree.
The children weren’t the only ones taking turns on the slide, Jones admitted, adding that the adults may have more turns on the slide under their belts than the kids.
“It's awesome. It's an outdoor activity where kids can go out right outside our house, so if they get cold, they can just come back in for a hot chocolate,” Jones said.
“Got the fireplace going outside and you don't have to drive anywhere — so keeping it safe, keeping it local.”
To Diggins, a father of three, the work paid off when he saw his kids smile.
“Oh, they love it. It's great. They have so much fun every day they're out there,” Diggins said.
“For them to have a childhood right now, through all this pandemic stuff, and have fun with smiles on their faces, it’s great.”
