Michigan school welcomes spring by burning snowman

A Michigan university celebrated the arrival of spring by continuing its half-century tradition of burning a snowman effigy. The Snowman Burning event was held Monday on the campus of Lake Superior State University.

The yearly rite of spring has been undertaken since 1971 at LSSU, which is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the Canadian border. The tradition of setting fire to a skeleton of wood covered in straw, wire, paint and paper is meant to usher in warmer weather. It ends with students from the school’s fire science program dousing the flames.