Frosty the hay bale?
Published 10:13 am Saturday, December 25, 2010
BY HATTIE FRANCIS/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
hattiefrancis@gmail.com
Standing next to a snowman made from peanut and grass bales are, from left, Horace Blythe, Samantha White, Clayton Blythe, Teri White, Shannon Blythe and Ben Blythe.
FRANKLIN—Everyone knows that Frosty the Snowman has a corncob pipe, a button nose and two eyes made out of coal, but if you’ve driven down Camp Highway past Riverdale Elementary School, you have surely seen Ben Blythe’s version of Frosty.
“You know you see the ones on the side of the road with the spider legs on it, like for Halloween and stuff, and I saw one of the Jack-o-lanterns, and I said, ‘well I can build a snowman,’” Blythe said.
This is no ordinary snowman as it stands 14 feet tall, and instead of an old silk hat, it has a bucket painted black.
“I knew I had two different size bales at the farm and a barrel,” Blythe said. “The bottom bale is a peanut hay bale, and the second bale is a grass bale. It’s got a wooden frame between them to keep them from rolling and teetering.”
On top of the bales does not lay a head made of snow, but a gas barrel painted white with black spray-painted eyes and mouth.
“We made it at the farm, at the store,” Blythe said. “(We) put it together there and took it apart, and then put it back together.”
“We did paint it,” he continued. “Horace (Blythe) and Teri (White) helped me to spray paint it white.”
“I just wanted to help spread Christmas cheer to the community,” White said about her reasons for helping.
Several people have called Blythe to compliment him on the towering snowman.
“Everybody likes it,” he said. “They slow down in the road and they ride by.”
