The beautiful snow queen on Wildcat Road circa 1970

By Howard E Cummins

POST COLUMNIST

It was not unusual that one of the deepest snows of the winter months came in the dead of night. It crept in without a sound. Not even a gentle wind to disturb the spoon chimes we had wired together from our mother’s oldest set of dented pewter ware. It was right after Christmas and the seven inches of snow that resulted covered the landscape on both sides of the highway in an area of Wise County that everyone calls The Wildcat. The weather was exceptional, with a sunny sky that beaconed an outside adventure. And it was a dense snow that would be perfect for creating a snowman!

I was home on holiday break visiting my Mother and sister Blanch, along with my niece Catherine, who was there for a short stay before returning to school. We dressed in our woolies and boots and ventured out to explore the white expanse with the intent of blessing the world with some type of snow creation. But we soon agreed that a traditional snowman would be quite boring, so the decision was made to create a snow woman.

We decided to erect our creation at the head of our driveway, which was directly off Route 23. In those days, long before there was a four-lane, this was the main route for all traffic and would represent an excellent display area for our artistry. And she should be life-size.

Our pile of snow grew and grew….and grew….and before long we had a snow lady that sprawled over a huge area of the driveway. She was reclined, with her head supported by one snow arm that rested on a big ball of snow. The snow was so dense that we were able to carve her features, including her face and the effect of long, flowing hair. But one of the most distinctive features we were able to create was her well-endowed chest. (And when I say well-endowed…I mean very well-endowed.) Our Snow Queen! She was quite spectacular!

Although the outside temperature was freezing, we were convinced that the sun would soon render our efforts a mushy mess. So, we decided to pour cold water over her, packing everything tight with hopes that overnight she would turn into an ice sculpture. Somewhere along the way we came up with green food coloring that we added to the water, resulting in something of a mermaid appearance to our creation. And it worked! Our Snow Queen kept her “figure” for several days, providing entertainment to anyone driving along that section of highway. There may even be a few of you who remember her. Sadly, the photo’s we took are now either lost or are hidden within an old box somewhere in storage.

I enlisted the services of my niece Catherine to help recapture this wonderful winter memory, especially since it happened several decades ago, and some assistance was necessary to recreate the details. Surprisingly, neither of us can remember how many individuals assisted us with our efforts. We regularly engaged the neighbor children Kathy Nickleson, Larry Bledsoe and Bucky Wiseman in our escapades, so it is highly likely they were part of our team for this event as well.