Published: January 20, 2007 10:38 am      

Recreation Board hopes for snow for Frosty contest

Former Keyser resident wrote lyrics to holiday classic

KEYSER, W.Va. — Christmas may be over, but members of the Keyser Recreation Board are hoping for a visit from Frosty soon.

As a tribute to Walter E. “Jack” Rollins, the lyricist who wrote the Christmas classic “Frosty the Snowman,” the Recreation Board is launching a snowman-making contest in Keyser.

The late Rollins, who lived in Keyser at one time and is buried at Queen’s Point Memorial Cemetery, also wrote the lyrics for “Peter Cottontail” and “Smokey the Bear.”

Recreation Board member Christy Barnett told the Keyser City Council recently that board members decided to sponsor the snowman contest in memory of Rollins and also “to bring some recognition to our city.”

The contest will launch Monday, which Keyser Mayor Glen “Bunk” Shumaker has proclaimed as Walter E. “Jack” Rollins Day.

“Rollins has distinguished himself by bringing international recognition to his hometown,” Shumaker said in a proclamation that he signed this week in the presence of Recreation Board members.

Also present for the signing was Nadine Yutzy, Rollins’ niece, who said her uncle would have been “shocked” by the recognition.

“The family was very low-key about his success,” the Keyser resident said Friday. “My uncle never, ever expected ‘Frosty’ to develop into what it did.”

Yutzy, who got to know her uncle well when she was in college and he moved from Hollywood to nearby Ohio, nevertheless grew up with reminders of his creations.

“Every Christmas and Easter we’d get gifts from ‘Frosty’ and ‘Peter,’ ” she said.

Yutzy said she hopes the snowman contest will not only develop into a fitting tribute to her uncle’s writing talents but that it will bring business and tourists to the Keyser area.

The premiere contest will be open to any individual or family who lives in the Keyser city limits, to any business located within the city’s limits, or to any organization that regularly meets within the city’s limits.

Entries will be judged in two categories: traditional snowmen and “everything else.”

“If you can build it out of snow, we will judge it,” Recreation Board Chairman Christy Hardy said, adding that anything “deemed vulgar, offensive or obscene” will not be accepted.

The contest runs through March 22, and snow sculptors must call the Keyser city office at (304) 788-1511 to register their entries. Competitors may enter the contest as many times as they want, but only one of their entries will be judged per week.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place and honorable mention in each category.

Anyone who wants to make a donation toward the prizes for the contest is asked to call the city office or contact any Recreation Board member.

In the event of there being insufficient snow for the contest, the prizes will be used for additional activities being planned by the Recreation Board.

Liz Beavers can be reached at lbeavers@times-news.com.