Giant snow Santa sculpture spreads holiday cheer, collects donations

Building a snowman is a classic holiday activity, but Bron Nurkowski has a much bigger imagination.

He built a 10 ft snow carving of Santa Claus to bring joy to the community. He’s also collecting donations for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Nurkowski primarily uses a machete to chip away at the carving, but for more detailed parts or chunks of hard snow he will use a power tool. (Bron Nurkowski/submitted)

“I had memories of playing in the snow as a kid, that brought me joy,” he said.

“I started putting two and two together and so that’s why I reached out to Big Brothers Big Sisters to see if there’s some opportunity that maybe they can benefit and their kids can benefit from my playfulness.”

The giant snow sculpture depicts Santa Claus with a contagious grin, it’s located on 3027 Elphinstone Street, in Regina.

Nurkowski said the carving makes people in his neighbourhood smile. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

“We’ve named him gift of a smile,” Nurkowski said. “Hopefully if his smile gives you a smile that you in turn create smiles for kids by donating to Big Brothers Big Sisters.”

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Nurkowski is an architect by profession, he’s been snow carving for about four years and said it’s a hobby and mental break.

Before he can start carving, Nurkowski builds a form out of plywood.

Ledcor construction donated plywood to Nurkowski to create the base of his sculpture. (Bron Nurkowski/submitted)

“My boys helped me load it up with snow and pack it,” he said. “About a week and a half later, we took the forms off, and then I started to play and just carving away.”

He uses a handful of tools to get every nook and cranny just right.

“My main tool that I use for it is a machete,” he explained.

“If there’s a patch of harder snow, I’ll use a power tool just to get in there and get some of the detail in there.”

The heavily detailed carving took Nurkowski approximately 25 hours to create. (Bron Nurkowski/submitted)

He said the hard work was worth it.

“If I’m working from home and look out the window, you can see the people coming out smiling and giving the old thumbs up. So it’s actually very enjoyable to see the smiles,” Nurkowski said.

He admires the work that Big Brothers Big Sisters does all year round. He even invited some of the kids with the program to his home to learn how to snow carve.

Despite the cold weather that day, the kids couldn’t get enough of the activity.

“I actually ran out of snow blocks,” he said. “I had to start taking pieces out of the back of this sculpture, because they were just so involved and so happy to be carving and practicing.”

Nurkowski and the kids with Big Brothers Big Sisters had a blast on Dec. 14, 2024 learning how to snow carve. (Bron Nurkowski/submitted)

He said the kids used their imagination to create items that the Santa sculpture would enjoy, like hot cocoa, a toque, Christmas trees and even a sofa for Santa to relax.

“It was actually very diverse, different things, and they were really using their imagination, I have to give them credit for that,” Nurkowski said. “And they never gave up. If the snow crumbled, they took another piece, and they started all over again.”

Nurkowski spent most of the day with the kids teaching them how to snow carve. Not even a cup of hot chocolate could keep them away from carving for more than 5 minutes. (Bron Nurkowski/submitted)

Big Brother Big Sisters Organization

Nurkowski is no stranger to volunteering and giving back to the community, this is how he met Dominika Krzeminska, Executive Director of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Regina and area Moose Jaw and Weyburn.

Nurkowski brought the idea of the snow sculpture to Krzeminska who quickly agreed.

The organization runs mentorship programs for kids facing adversities in the community.

“We have varying types of programs, but we’re most known for our community, one to one and in school mentoring programs where volunteer mentors are matched with a child in the community,” she said.

“At the end of the day, the goal is to ignite the power and potential of all young people in our community through our programming.”

There’s a sign in front of the Santa where people can send donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Ignite a little sparkle is the organizations December campaign, which Nurkowski’s carving is a part of.

Financially, it has a goal of raising $10,000.

“We have matching sponsors throughout the month of December,” she explained.

“So dollar for dollar the sponsors are matching what’s donated. So if someone comes and donates here for a gift of a smile that’s already matched dollar for dollar.”

Currently, it is halfway to that goal.

Another equally important goal is exposure.

“We have kids on the wait list waiting for mentors, and we have a need for volunteers. So it’s a call out to the community. Donating money is great, but donating time is just as important,” she said.

Krzeminska encourages anyone who wants to learn more about becoming a volunteer or mentor to reach out.

“There’s something for everyone in our organization for volunteering,” she said.

The carving is located at it’s located on 3027 Elphinstone Street. Nurkowski said the integrity of the structure is weather dependent. It could last till the end of February, beginning of March.

Big Bothers Big Sisters is hoping to raise $10,000 in the month of December. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)