snowman toronto

Toronto neighbourhood is obsessed with this 14-foot-tall snowman

Do you want to build a snowman...that's 14 feet tall...in Toronto? Someone in the city did, and their figure built out of fluffy snow now towers as tall as a building.

That someone is Mike Ferguson, and it's actually not his first towering snowman, though it is his tallest. A sign next to the snowman on Runnymede south of Deforest lets people know he's 14 feet and one inch tall (but shrinks in the sun sometimes) and that they can follow him @snowman_and_sammy.

"The first was 2017 in our backyard. 2018 to 2019 he appeared in our front yard, at 11 feet. Melted down and grew back to 12 feet. Last winter, no snow so no snowman. This season, my daughter asked, 'Could it be bigger than before?' So, the goal was 13 feet. We made it to 14 feet...for now," Ferguson told blogTO.

He says he built the snowman "during week nights and weekends" over the course of about one and a half months out of only snow and ice.

"My wife and daughter helped by refilling my water can frequently. The water is only one critical step to make the structure solid," says Ferguson.

"Two critical resources were needed: one, motivation; two, snow. Motivation was abundant. Clean snow was scarce. Snowfall stalled for four weeks in January. When there was snowfall, I collected from neighbouring sidewalks, driveways and lawns."

That's the snowman from the Insta handle, so who's Sammy?

Apparently, it's going to be his "snowdog" companion who will be appearing soon.

"We have never seen so many smiles and giggles as people walk our street. We just love to see the kids and adults in awe. We have received the warmest compliments from people of all ages and from those I didn't expect it from," says Ferguson.

"People have dropped off thank you notes, in our mailbox. We constantly have traffic stop for a glimpse and to snap a picture. People hear about it, get off the couch and walk to see the big snowman. We are happy others get a little lift in their days."

Lead photo by

@snowman_and_sammy


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