The community of Sexsmith came together over the summer months and, over time, created a 70-metre-long rock snake. The hundreds of painted and decorated rocks line the downtown path on 100th Street, across from the gazebo in the Town of Sexsmith.
Wellness Coordinator for the Town of Sexsmith Melody Sample says the snake was started by a young girl, Melody Georgeson, who put out a few rocks and then put it out to the community, asking if anyone wanted to join. The snake then took off with individuals putting out stones, town council painting rocks, and a weekly rock painting activity being held at the Sexsmith Farmers market. Sample says the community came to truly own the initiative.
“Anytime there might be something like the rocks got kicked around one night, well, someone would walk by the next morning and put them all back in place, and a lot of people got involved.”
As the town prepares for the winter months, they ask residents who would like their rocks to come and pick them up before the end of September.
“If residents don’t pick them up, then public works will pick them up,” Sample says. “I am just really proud of the community of Sexsmith for responding to the rock snake; it was really neat to watch.”
Sample says there are still a few questions left to be answered about the rock snake: firstly, what will happen with the rocks picked up by public works; and secondly, whether or not the initiative will pop up again in the future.