December 2021 Happenings Magazine

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Do you want to o matter what they say, Frosty is a fairytale, just a snow sculpture, albeit with some human characteristics like a button nose and eyes made out of coal.

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There’s no magic in Frosty the Snowman, but there sure is a lot of history. Frosty can’t be found in every state in the country. He exists in areas with lots of packable snow and may come to life in the hearts of moms and dads and their little ones who work together to build him and dress him in the appropriate accoutrements. Common accessories include branches for arms and a button or carrot for a nose. Coal was used for eyes back in the days when Coal was King but nowadays grapes can be used for eyes and blueberries for the mouth. A

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hat or scarf should be included. Use a candle snuffer for a corn pipe, for historical sake.

In North America, snowmen are generally built with three spheres representing the head, torso, and lower body. In the United Kingdom, two spheres are used, one sphere representing the body and one representing the head. Japanese snowmen have two spheres and a bucket hat. In 2015, a man from Wisconsin made a snowman 22 feet tall and with a base 12 feet wide. The record for the world's largest snowman was set in 2008 in Bethel, Maine. The snow-woman stood 122 feet 1 inch in height and was named in honor of Olympia Snowe, a U.S. Senator representing the state of Maine. Frosty-like art was found in periods during the Middle Ages when snow was used to create art, say scientists. It’s been said that Michelangelo built a snowman in the garden of the ruler of Florence. However, these days Florence

only gets one inch of snow per year. Another legend goes that snowmen were used as stand-in guards during the Massacre of 1690. Fort Schenectady was under attack by Frenchmen and Native Americans. For about a week, they were navigating in snow that was about knee-deep. The way to the fort had been so strenuous that the Native Americans and the French were preDecember 2021


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