After Melting Hearts, Florida Snowman Lives on as a 'Beautiful Flower' in School's Garden

Wendy Grossman Kantor
·3 min read
Robin Hughes students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time
Robin Hughes students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time

Robin Hughes

In the winter, when Robin Hughes saw snow in the forecast for her sister's town of Danville, Kentucky, she called up her sibling and sang, "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Hughes, a special education teacher, moved to Florida during the pandemic, and it broke her heart to learn that many of her sunshine state students — and coworkers — had never seen or touched snow before.

"I loved snow days when I was growing up," Hughes, 60, the director of special education at South Shore Charter Academy, tells PEOPLE.

After receiving a call from Hughes asking for a snowman, Hughes' sister, Amber Estes, built an 18-inch tall snowman and overnight shipped the little guy via UPS for $78.

Lucky the snowman arrived at the school in Riverview, Florida, on January 20. Hughes texted a photo of the special delivery to a local meteorologist captioned, "Have you ever seen snow in Florida?" He shared it on his Facebook page, and the story went viral.

"It just completely snowballed," Hughes says.

robin Hughes with sister Amber Estes amber shipped a snowman from Kentucky to her sister inRiverview, Fla. so her students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time
robin Hughes with sister Amber Estes amber shipped a snowman from Kentucky to her sister inRiverview, Fla. so her students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time

courtesy robin Hughes

To keep Lucky frosty, Hughes left the snowman — complete with carrot nose and blueberry button eyes — in the school cafeteria's freezer and took him out to show students daily.

"I love how this little snowman has just melted our hearts — and the fact that he's not only melted our hearts, but he has melted the hearts of people all over the world. He's melting the hearts of people all over the world," Hughes says of Lucky.

Hughes cried when it came time to melt the snowman (as planned) for the school's Earth Day Celebration.

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"He's caused an awful lot of joy," she says. "This little snowman has made some little kids very, very happy."

Hughes adds that she has received letters about Lucky from school children around the country and plans to send vials of Lucky's water to these nationwide snowman fans.

As part of South Shore Charter Academy's Earth Day celebration, Santa Claus came to the school, served Kona Ice, and promised to take some of Lucky's water to the North Pole.

Robin Hughes students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time
Robin Hughes students at south shore charter academy could see a snowman, for many the first time

Robin Hughes

Hughes also made a snowman topiary for the school's children's garden as part of the event. She froze Lucky's water into plastic Easter eggs, and at 11:30 a.m. on Earth Day, the kids cracked open their eggs and used the ice to water the Lucky topiary and garden.

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"It was really, really sweet," Hughes says. "I said, 'Well, he's no longer a snowman. But look, he's a beautiful flower.'"

Next year, she's thinking about trying to bring Autumn leaves to Florida.

"The trees in Florida don't change color," she says. "They don't know anything about Fall."