Luka and Michael Marrelli spent their school snow day on Riverdale Hill.
While some Torontonians considered last night’s snowstorm a disadvantage, Tony Marrelli saw it as an advantage. He took his sons to Riverdale Hill on Wednesday.
“Work was cancelled today because of the weather,” he said. “(City officials) wanted people to stay off the roads or stay home.”
But the light snow and the sunny afternoon made for a great tobogganing outing, Marrelli said. From families to adults playing hooky, many gathered at this well-known hill. Marrelli and his two sons, Luka and Michael, live in East York, so they made the trip to the hill to toboggan in the fresh snow.
“It’s a classic Canadian winter sport,” Tony Marrelli said. “I grew up in this area but this is the first time bringing the boys here.”
With an overnight low of -18, Environment Canada issued an extreme weather warning and called it the biggest snowfall of the season. Wind gusts also climbed to about 40 kilometres per hour overnight. But the Marrelli family wasn’t fazed.
“This is nothing when you’re born and raised in Toronto,” Marrelli said.
Although it wasn’t official, Wednesday was pretty much a snow day for students. Luka Marrelli, eight, said there weren’t many kids at school. He’s usually prepared for math class, but today he came prepared for the hill, dressed in a snow suit and ski goggles.
“You go really, really fast,” Luka said. “I even got some air time.”
It may have been the biggest storm of the year and an inconvenience to many Torontonians, but for the Marrellis, it couldn’t have been a better day.