{"id":19528,"date":"2014-12-23T20:59:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T04:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=19528"},"modified":"2014-12-24T06:10:42","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:10:42","slug":"frostys-back-2014-dedicated-to-oggie-photo-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=19528","title":{"rendered":"Frosty’s Back – 2014, Dedicated to Oggie – Photo gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first year Frosty came to Kersting Court, 1988. Photo courtesy of Andrew Graper<\/p><\/div>\n

Posted 12\/23\/14<\/em> – Every year since 1988, except 2010, \u00a0a snowman has been built in Kersting Court. \u00a0Originally, he was on Sierra Madre Blvd. up near the west end of the park by the crosswalk, and for some time now he\u2019s been on Baldwin Ave.. He has arrived on different days – on Christmas Eve, on the night of the candlelight walk, on New Year\u2019s Eve, but he\u2019s always arrived, again, except 2010. \u00a0And there were three people that were responsible for it, though not all three participated every year. \u00a0Andrew Graper, Dave Forrester and Brian “Oggie” Eck were the guys that made the snowman, with help from others, no doubt, but generally you were going to see, one, two or all three of them, year after year. \u00a0Used to be that the snow always came down off the mountain, but now sometimes the snow is actually zamboni shavings from local ice rinks. \u00a0Which is to say, that while things stay the same, they also change.<\/p>\n

This year there was a big change. \u00a0Oggie passed away on December 2nd. \u00a0Andrew and Dave carried on the tradition, and this year the snowman is dedicated in Oggie’s name, as evidenced by the scarf that keeps his neck warm. \u00a0On Frosty’s neck this year there is a patch with Oggie’s name, date of birth, and date of death on it.<\/p>\n

While Andrew and Dave were again the providers of the snow and much of the labor, Dave’s Mom Betty made the aformentioned scarf and Oggie’s long time friend Tonia Biely Patino<\/p>\n

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That's Oggie in the board shorts, with his mom standing beside him. News Net file photo from 2009<\/p><\/div>\n

sewed on the patch that Bob Goudy supplied, and \u00a0Tonia also provided the carrot nose, the corn cob pipe and the buttons on his chest.<\/p>\n

So thanks for all your years of bringing Frosty to town, Oggie. \u00a0And thanks to Andrew, Dave, Tonia and Betty and the other snowman builders for their efforts to carry on the tradition without him.<\/p>\n