Oscar, Michael and Ruth Levine of Walker Street, Port Townsend, created a snowman for their neighbors as a Christmas surprise.They used volunteer plant material, repurposed Halloween mini-pumpkins, a squash and bread for lips. The project started out as a snowball fight and grew from there. (Jeannie McMacken for Peninsula Daily News).

Oscar, Michael and Ruth Levine of Walker Street, Port Townsend, created a snowman for their neighbors as a Christmas surprise.They used volunteer plant material, repurposed Halloween mini-pumpkins, a squash and bread for lips. The project started out as a snowball fight and grew from there. (Jeannie McMacken for Peninsula Daily News).

Port Townsend family uses snow for small gift with big impact

PORT TOWNSEND — A local family with the holiday spirit used the recent snowfall to brighten a neighbor’s Christmas.

“It started out as a snowball,” Ruth Levine said on Christmas Day.

Her family was having an impromptu snowball fight in their yard on Walker Street during the Christmas Eve storm.

“My son, Oscar, thought it would be fun to build a snowman, and then we all decided to put it in our neighbor’s front yard,” Ruth said. “We went from throwing to rolling. We tried to be quiet about it.”

Ruth, Oscar, her husband, Michael, and daughter, Leah, created the surprise gift that was discovered Christmas morning by Leslie and Michael Faxon, right next door.

“Look what we found in our front yard this morning,” Leslie exclaimed Monday.

The Levines positioned their creation to face the Faxons’ front windows.

Leslie has been ill, so the creation, positioned where she could see it easily, meant a great deal to her.

It didn’t take the Faxons long to figure out the creators behind their yard art.

“We have little yards and were able to see the tell-tale signs,” said Michael Faxon.

Leslie and her husband were completely surprised by the show of kindness.

“When someone does something out of the goodness of their hearts, a spontaneous thing like this, it is a big lift,” Leslie said.

“It’s the small gifts in life that mean the most.”

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