Anyone familiar with the film Snakes on a Plane knows the fear the slithering reptiles can instill.
However, for Langdon resident Tammy Bartlett, the idea of building an artistically painted “rock snake” near the hamlet’s Dairy Queen became the perfect solution to encourage children to spend a bit more time outdoors.
When Bartlett, the mother of a seven-year-old named Emma, came across an idea on the internet of contributing painted rocks to see how long a “rock snake” could grow, she saw it as a golden opportunity for a bit of fun.
“I saw a post on Facebook about a place doing this, and I showed it to my daughter. We thought it would be a fantastic idea,” she said.
After introducing “Rocky the Stone Snake” to the community via a popular Langdon Facebook page, Bartlett witnessed a surge of interest from children throughout the hamlet, who eagerly contributed their own painted rocks to make Rocky grow. Her aspiration is to create the largest stone snake in the area.
“We are pretty excited about it, and we have already seen some progress,” Bartlett said. “There have been about eight new rocks added since we started. The more people that hear about it, the more exciting it gets.”
Despite encountering a setback when Rocky was destroyed a few days after his creation, Bartlett remained undeterred. She vows to rebuild the stone snake as many times as she needs to.
“We'll just keep rebuilding him,” she said. “My daughter loves it, and some kids walking around at night kicking rocks won't stop us.”
Bartlett shared that visiting Rocky has become a part of her daily routine and has brought a little bit of joy to her family and the overall Langdon community.
“It's exciting for them, and it's something my daughter looks forward to every day after school,” she said. “She asks me to drive by him and count how many rocks are there.”
Though an admittedly lofty goal in a community of roughly 5,000 people, Bartlett, who researched that the largest stone snake measured 1,700 feet long, envisions surpassing that impressive mark.
With parents constantly seeking new ways to entice their children outdoors and Bartlett’s Facebook post reaching almost 400 likes so far, her project may be just the inspiration they need.
