When life gives you snow, build a snowman. After a heavy snowfall over the holidays in Rosenort, Man., the Dueck family decided to come together to build a massive seven-metre snowman in their front yard.
“It took three weeks to build. It was an entire family thing. It was a lot of fun. The family bonding was nice but it was hard work as well,” Joshua Dueck, 18, said.
Dueck and his younger brother Mitchell, younger sister Abby and his parents Don and Juanita have built three giant snowmen in the past but never one this big.
They started with building an inner frame for the snowman. They covered up the frame so they could keep the snowman hollow and visitors could go inside. Then they used a grain auger to dump the snow seven metres high into the form. Once the snowman was standing, they added little touches like a cardboard hat and a carrot nose.
“The last few years we had done it 12 feet or 15 feet but never 20 feet. My dad spearheaded the whole thing. But we were all excited to see it come into existence,” Dueck said.
“We decided to go all out this year because it might very well be our last year.”
Although the snowman doesn’t have an official name, Dueck said most people in the neighbourhood call it the “classic Frosty.”
“Lots of people were slowing down by our road. People would drive up and be amazed. Some kids would climb up. Our local school came for a field trip. It’s a lot of fun.”
The snowman was built almost a month ago and Dueck said the changing temperatures have been a little rough for Frosty.
“It’s kind of bending over right now. It’s pretty messed up. But people still like coming by.”