By Dan Murphy
Every year, in the hamlet of Armonk, in the Town of North Castle, Frosty the Snowman is celebrated with a parade through Main Street. But with COVID-19 still a danger, Frosty and North Castle officials have decided not to have the parade.
“No Frosty parade this year, we’ll miss him. But as you can see, Frosty is Modeling Good Behavior like the rest of us, (pictured above),” posted the Town of North Castle. But the Westchester connection to Frosty is a tale that we like to tell about every year.
Frosty the Snowman will be 70 years old in 2020, and the North Castle Frosty parade is the only holiday event of its kind, with more than 1,000 attending in recent years, and it has been named one of the “10 Best Things To Do” in Westchester County. During this time of the December holidays, where several religions are featured in civic and educational settings, Frosty the Snowman remains a symbol of the fun and excitement of the winter holiday season.
Located in the Town of North Castle, Armonk’s Historic District is the “Village Square” mentioned in the song’s lyrics where Frosty dared the children to “catch me if you can.” The lyricist of the winter holiday classic, Steve Nelson, was a frequent visitor to Armonk after World War II from his home in nearby White Plains, NY. In 1950, he wrote the song’s lyrics which he put to Jack Rollins’ music; Gene Autry recorded the song that year, making it an instant classic, following his earlier one of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Nelson bought land in Armonk that year on which he would build his home.
In a letter written some 40-plus years later to a friend, Steve Nelson’s widow Audrey acknowledged that Armonk was indeed the inspiration for the famous song. Life-long Armonk resident and town councilwoman Barbara DiGiacinto said, “The traffic cop in the song who hollered ‘Stop!’ to Frosty was said to be based on the town’s former chief of police, John Hergenhan, who just happened to be my uncle.”
Steve Nelson lived with his family in Armonk until his death there in 1981. In 1957, “Frosty the Snowman” was recorded again by Perry Como, solidifying it as a perennial song of the season. This success was followed by an animated version in 1969, now seen annually on television.
Please visit the Friends of Frosty Web site at http://www.armonkfrosty.com/, and we will see you in Armonk next year.
While Frosty is being socially distant and wearing his mask this year, Santa will be doing the same during his travels around the world. Good news for Santa fans came when Dr. Anthony Fauci said “Santa is exempt from this because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity. . “Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody,” he said.
There are other holiday events in Westchester in December that are still happening. One great, outdoor event is at Untermyer Park and Gardens in Yonkers.
The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, a non-profit organization working in partnership with the City of Yonkers, announces its sixth annual Grand Holiday Illumination at the Walled Garden. The event is free nightly and open to the public from December 12-January 3 from 4:30 until 8:00 PM.
The Walled Garden will be brilliantly illuminated with nearly 100,000 festive holiday lights, highlighting the rich architectural and horticultural elements of the garden. Beautiful holiday music in the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Zoroastrian traditions will be played.
Because of the pandemic, visitation will be strictly limited by timed entry. RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED by signing up online at ww.untermyergardens.org. Unfortunately, no one can be admitted without reservations.
The Conservancy was founded in 2011, and funds six gardeners working at Untermyer Gardens. In addition to extensive landscape improvements, it has completed six major capital projects: the restoration of the Temple of Love in 2016, The Vista in 2017, the canals in the Walled Garden in 2018, the Ruin Garden and Rock and Stream Garden in 2019 and the Temple of the Sky in 2020. There has been major media coverage of the improvements at what was called “America’s Most Spectacular Garden” in the 1920’s, including Martha Stewart Living, Elle Décor, New York Times and Wall Street Journal and the Conservancy has been the recipient of many awards.
It is estimated that approximately 80,000 people visited the garden last year, and Untermyer Gardens is now called the number one attraction in Westchester County by Trip Advisor.
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