By Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Editor
TOMAHAWK – What started as a fun downtime project ended up becoming an opportunity to bring people together to raise money for a local domestic abuse shelter.
Michelle Arnott, owner of Diamond Rock Glass Studio, 12 W. Wisconsin Ave., Tomahawk, along with her husband, Brian, and friends, constructed an igloo out of nearly 400 ice blocks in their backyard. Michelle said the igloo took about 50 hours to build.
Work on the igloo began late last year, when Michelle made 180 colored ice blocks to kick off the project. After the first batch of blocks was set in place, an additional 120 were added, and the colorful structure began to take shape.
On Jan. 9, the final 100 blocks were put in place, and the rainbow igloo was complete.
Throughout the construction process, Michelle provided updates on Diamond Rock’s Facebook page. As progress on the structure was made, the likes, comments and shares began to pour in, and by the time the igloo was completed, Michelle’s posts were garnering hundreds of reactions.
With the igloo drawing interest on social media, Michelle and Brian decided to let people come to their home to check out their work. On Saturday, Jan. 15 and Sunday, Jan. 16, visitors filed into their backyard, where the igloo (and hot chocolate and penguin treats for the kids) were waiting.
Michelle collected donations to HAVEN, Inc., a domestic abuse shelter in Merrill, throughout the weekend. Michelle is an advocate for HAVEN and serves on its board. After all the visitors had come and gone, more than $400.00 had been raised for the shelter.
In a post on Facebook, Michelle said she was surprised by the amount of attention the igloo had attracted.
“I feel very fortunate to live in such a great community,” Michelle said. “There have also been people that drove a few hours to see the igloo. Thank you to everyone, I sincerely appreciate each of you. And big thanks to my husband and all the people who helped create this igloo and helped out during the open visits.”
To see additional photos and videos of the rainbow igloo, visit Diamond Rock’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/diamondrockglassstudio/.
