His name was Abraham and he was 42 feet high. On Feb. 12, 1982, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, students from Bellows Free Academy (BFA), with help from the community, set out to turn 211 truckloads of snow into the world's largest snowman.
Fun Facts:
Six hundred students worked in teams of ten, along with 60 adult volunteers to turn the pile of snow gathered from the paving of city streets and sidewalks into the world’s tallest snowman.
Abraham’s 40-foot green and gold scarf was knitted by students in Mrs. Jarrett’s home economics class. Mr. Gallup’s art class built the carrot for his nose, while students in Mr. Best’s building trades class made his pipe and 6-foot tall hat.
Students were also engaged in doing the math and physics necessary for Abraham’s construction.
Physics students worked on the problem of how to get Abraham’s 10-foot high and 10-foot wide head atop the pile of snow, the first step in his construction.
A photo of Abraham taken by Gene LaFountain went out over United Press International, a wire service, which provided photos to news organizations around the world. As a result Abraham’s fame spread far and wide.
