As New Englanders dig out of the worst snow-thunderstorm in years, the small town of Wapatusset, Massachusetts is being inundated with media attention—once again.
What started as an innocent photo op has turned into a crusade of international proportions.
As the Associated Press made the world aware of the “Snowpocalypse,” hundreds of web-links picked up the weather/human interest aspect of the crisis and crowned a young Wapatusset lady as the “Snow Princess.”
A picture says a thousand words!
Captions read “Getting ready for the snowstorm in Massachusetts with her rake as New England braces for a foot of snow.”
On Wednesday, newspapers from Honolulu to Washington, London to Beijing chose the heart- wrenching vision of a tiny 13-month-old clearing the family driveway with…
…a rake…
to illustrate the magnitude of the blizzard.
On Thursday headlines across the planet read “What?? No Shovels?”
The picture has united a charity drive of global proportions.
Brooms are arriving from mainland China (with “Made in India” stickers), barn shovels from the Polish Highlands. Even the latest Ergo-S models are pouring in from Internet well-wishers.
Wapatusset postal clerk (and lead drummer of the Musty Slippers) Justin Case reported Friday that the tiny Wapatusset Post Office parking lot has reached maximum capacity as it is filled with crates of donated shovels from all over the world.
The Nigeria Daily News posted the picture and now Interpol warns of a new Nigerian Internet scam as in-boxes across the globe are being spammed with suspicious requests for cash donations to “send a snow shovel to Uncle Osagioduwa in Wapatusset” (which, translated from Nigerian, means “God show me the way to wealth.”)
Bob Geldorf has announced Snow Aid 2011 in Carmel, California to raise funds for both shovels and snow removal. Ozzy Osborne has also announced that proceeds from his Monsters of Snow Tour (not be confused with the Yeti) will also support snow removal efforts.
The Bored Selectmen of Wapatusset are grateful for the international show of support and have begun distributing the shovels to neighboring (and less fortunate) communities throughout New England. As their fleet of Range Rover snowplows is stretched to the limit, they appreciate any type of outreach (and publicity) on their behalf.
AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
- article by the mysterious, Dr. F
