A snow bank between two neighbors' homes caused a national media event when it became a wall of snow. Bob Britton never imagined that his shared laneway would become a novelty attraction after he hired next-door neighbor Luc Guertin to clear the snow from their adjoining laneways. The winter of 2007/2008 had produced a near all time record snowfall and Guertin had no choice but to compress the snow into a wall. As the snow kept falling, Guertin kept building the wall higher. Soon locals were marveling at the sight of the wall and started taking pictures. Word spread through the community of Orleans and the media got wind of it. Soon the story was appearing on the front pages of newspapers and on television.

After a near record snowfall year, Canadians were exhausted. A story like this was just what the media needed to pick up and rally the public’s spirits. Guertin was photographed standing on top of his wall, representing man’s triumph over snow. Not all the responses to the story were positive though. The cities bylaw showed up too, although they had never dealt with something of this nature before. After several requests from the public to pose for pictures, Guertin placed a statute he made on top of the wall. He wired up spotlights to shine on it at night causing it to glow beautifully. The statute was there twenty-four-seven for the public who kept taking pictures

Guertin’s wife contacted the Guinness Book of World Records to see about a possible entry. At the same time, Guertin started contemplating the idea of fundraising for the food bank. With the winter season coming to an end as this feature is published, Guertin is running out of time as his wall of snow begins to melt in the spring Canadian air of 2008

Video interview of Bob Britton was recorded by Key Records on March 16/2008 in Orleans, Ontario, Canada. Video interview of Luc Guertin was recorded by Key Records on March 18/2008 in Orleans, Ontario, Canada.