Christmas came early for one Jefferson City family.
Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry staff transported a dump truck full of snow to the Volmert family home.
Every year, the department selects one winner to receive a “Guaranteed White Christmas.” Crews deliver a truck full of shavings from the Washington Park Ice Arena in the days leading up to Christmas.
Sydney Volmert entered for her younger brother, Jesse, who was selected as the winner Wednesday.
Their mom, Kelly Volmert, said she met with parks staff Wednesday to talk about where would be best to empty the truck.
Also, when the family found out, she said, they started calling friends to come play in the snow, too.
Come Thursday morning, a gaggle of adults and children gathered outside the family home. They waited with coats and gloves on, snow shovels and sleds at the ready until the truck dumped its load and moved out of the way.
Then Sydney and Jesse, along with several of their friends, hopped right into a snowball fight.
“It’s been tons of fun,” Kelly said. “The kids are out of school this week … so they haven’t gotten to see their friends much. This was a great opportunity for us to call up some friends and say, ‘Hey, you want to come over and play in the snow when no one else is?’ I think they’re having a great time.”
Phil Stiles, program manager of special events for Parks, said the tradition started about 30 years ago as a way to promote the ice arena.
The winner also gets a private rental session at the ice arena with catered lunch.