Sarasota sees snow day at First Sarasota Baptist Church

The weather was a little chilly on Jan. 14, but that wasn’t enough to explain the unusual sight outside First Sarasota – The Downtown Baptist Church that morning.

Children were tossing snowballs, building small snowmen and sliding down a snow-covered slide using inflatable floats, many of them wearing winter attire including sweaters and beanies.

MaryKate Medford was among the elementary school kids who couldn't wait to be part of the quintessentially wintery scene. 

“She’s super excited," said her grandmother Jan Medford.

The snow wasn’t just an artificial creation, but was, in fact, 20,000 pounds of “real" snow, courtesy of the Sarasota location of Lee’s Ice of Central Florida, which used a machine to grind its bags of ice. 

“It’s a perfect day," said Molly Biter, a parent at the event, calling the snow “such a blessing.”

Courtney West of First Sarasota said after debuting the event last year, the church saw such an enthusiastic response that it decided to repeat it this year.

Joseph Wolfson of Lee’s Ice explained that the company’s snow events came about in order to keep the company busy during the wintertime. 

Sales of ice typically decline during the wintertime, but about 15 years ago, the company began the snow events to keep the item relevant, providing them throughout the Bradenton and Sarasota area.