Barrie residents marked Family Day with a snowy celebration as the city faced significant winter weather. Despite ongoing snowstorms, families ventured out to enjoy outdoor activities, including a trip to Shear Park, where the skating rink had been covered by nearly two feet of snow.
“We’re clearing the snow now so the kids can skate,” said Jeremy McNaught, who organized a pre-planned family event at the park. While the rink is typically maintained by the city, the snowstorm had made it difficult to use. McNaught explained that a neighbor had brought a snowblower earlier in the day, but less than half of the rink was cleared for hockey and skating.
The heavy snowfall was a rare occurrence for Barrie, with some locals reporting massive snowdrifts. Rob Odesse, who lives near Shear Park, said, “I haven’t seen snow like this since I was a kid. There’s about four feet of snow on my lawn. You can’t even use the sidewalks.”
For Alex Bricker, a neighbor on Adelaide Street, the snow posed a different challenge: his roof. “There’s about three feet of snow and ice. I have to get it off,” Bricker said, noting that this was the worst snowstorm he had encountered since moving to the area 12 years ago. Despite the danger of sliding off his roof while breaking up ice in the eavestroughs, Bricker remained calm, joking, “I have a big bank of snow to fall into if I fall off.”
Elsewhere in Barrie, police responded to a situation where a couple, unable to leave their home due to the snow, received assistance from neighbors and officers from Platoon Four, who helped dig them out. The exact location and time of the incident were not disclosed by police.
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