Dozens of creative snow creations pop up after snowstorm

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - This week's heavy snowfall sparked the creative side in many people across the area.  Dozens of snowmen and other snow sculptures were created Wednesday and Thursday after as much as 10-inches of snow was dropped on the region.

Click here to see photos of area snow sculptures.

NewsChannel 15 received more than one hundred photos of the snow storm and of the imaginative snow creations that came out of it using Report !t. If you see news happening, Report !t.

One of the more unique sculptures in town is a 10-foot lawn chair.  It was created by a youth group made up of college-aged students from several churches in town.

"Honestly, I thought a chair was a good idea because it's easy enough to make a rectangle with a group of people," said Ben Abels, an engineer who led the team of about 15 people who made the chair.  "I mean really, it's a box with a big stack of snow on the back."

Abels said the group of friends filled up recycling bins full of snow to make bricks, and then stacked them on top of each.  Afterwards, they carved out any extra amount until the chair was formed.

It took the group about 90 minutes to complete the task.

"it's fun to just flop up there in the big chair and relax," said Danielle Zackey, who helped build the chair.  "Who doesn't want to sit in a big chair?"

Other than Abels, no one in the group had made a large sculpture before.  Now that they have, the group said it looked forward to trying it again after another big snowfall.

There's one problem the group has with the sculpture.  Warmer temperatures are in the future, and the group of friends know the creation won't be there long.

"It is sad to see it go, but all the work and effort you put in there you get to enjoy it for a little bit while longer as it integrates a the weather changes," said Zackey.

Abels said he thought the chair would look like a chair for a few days, but hoped the block of packed snow would be noticeable for two or three weeks.

Other snow-sculpture creators already noticed the temperatures caused problems.  Bonnie Anders, who built a dinosaur with her seven-year-old grandson, already lost part of their creation.

"The dinosaur's foot fell off," she said.  "And his eyes."

Anders bought a kit that gave step-by-step instructions on how to make a snow sculpture look like the extinct animal.  She said Thursday that her grandson had not seen the damage the warm weather caused.

"I'm sure he won't like it because it's gone, but I took plenty of pictures with my camera," Anders said.