Long Island Snowman Becomes International Star

A Long Island snowman has become an international celebrity and fans across the region are helping him survive the spring.

Mike Fregoe, 50, of Massapequa Park, said his family’s snowman started off as any other they’ve built to greet their Smith Street neighbors.

“It was such a horrible winter and the snow was aggravating everyone,” Fregoe said. “We always built big snowmen every year and it always made people laugh as they went by.”

Instead of letting the snowman fade as the weather improved, Fregoe decided to keep him alive.

With the help of a Facebook page, Save Our Snowman, the Fregoes took on the task of helping the snowman survive warmer temperatures.

“I thought, let’s see if we can find out how long we can make him last. And now it’s April and he’s still here!”

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The snowman is nearly 3 months old, protected under tarps when it rains and being rebuilt every so often. Thanks to Facebook fans and news stories, the tale of the Massapequa Park snowman’s survival has circumnavigated the globe.

“I’ve had old friends I haven’t seen in years tell me they saw the snowman on the news in Colorado and the Florida Keys,” Fregoe said. “I even heard we were spotted on Polish television and a station in Burma.”

While some of the buzz has died down, Long Islanders are still dedicated to helping save the snowman. Fregoe said fans recently brought buckets of snow from Farmingdale, Sayville and Patchogue. Some have even lugged the white stuff all the way from the Hamptons.

“The reach we’ve had just amazes me. At first, we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get 100 likes on this page,’” Fregoe said, adding that he and his family are thrilled they could bring smiles to so many faces around the world.

This snowman has done some traveling himself, heading to New York City to take photos in front of The Tonight Show and The Late Show studios.

“The ultimate achievement would be if David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon got a hold of our story and arranged for dump trucks of snow to be delivered,” Fregoe said.

Fregoe posted some of the snowman’s selfies in front of their studios on their Facebook page, which had reached nearly 1,900 fans as of Friday.

Despite increasing temperatures and recent rainfall, Fregoe is diligently caring for the snowman with his children.

“Today, we’re going to head to Bethpage State Park because I hear there’s still some snow there,” Fregoe said, adding that they plan to rebuild the snowman to make him shorter and bulkier.

Fregoe also plans to make sure the snowman stays all natural for as long as possible.

“Right now, he’s 100 percent snow, nothing from a freezer,” he said, though he hasn’t decided if he will eventually give him an artificial facelift.

Find out how to donate snow and see photos of the famous snowman on the Save Our Snowman Facebook page here.