A snowy day at NAS Jax

There wasn't a storm cloud in sight and the temperatures were in the high 70s so it really wasn't cold enough to snow. But, thanks to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Department, a hillside of snow created with ice and a special snow machine gave some an opportunity they had never experience before.

"This is the first time I've ever seen snow before. It's really cold! I'm having a blast throwing snowballs at my friends, but don't like getting hit with them. And, it's really fun sledding down the hill," said 8-year-old Anna Verrill.

"This is such a great time for the kids to see snow, especially when we don't get snow in Florida. They went sledding a couple times and are having so much fun having snowball fights," added AT1(AW) Erik Heineman of VP-62.

Five-year-old Dane LaRocque aims as he prepares to throw a snowball at his friend, Anna Verrill at the Tropical Freeze event.

This is the fifth year the MWR Youth Activities Center (YAC) has sponsored the Tropical Freeze event. "It's just a fun event for our military families who don't always get to see snow because it usually doesn't snow in Florida. We do this every year, although we got rained out last year," explained MWR Community Activities Director Brett Tracy. "We buy about 60 bales of hay and create a safe run for the kids to sled down. The snow is made out of ice with a snow machine."

Workers began creating the snow early in the morning, using about 16,000 pounds of ice to create the sledding trail and a snow area where the children and their parents entertained themselves by bombarding one another with snowballs.

The sledding trail proved to be exciting for the youngsters and some parents who were brave enough, winding through slick bends on small plastic saucers that kept them spinning out of control. At the end, a small bump sent many of the children airborne down the hill into the grass. As they happily trudged back up the hill with their saucers, they anxiously got back in line for another turn.

Seven-year-old Tyler Heineman gathers some snow to make a snowball at the Tropical Freeze event Dec. 16.

"We wanted to bring a little of the north to the south. It's something exciting for the kids to do because a lot of them don't get to go up to see the snow. It's free and a great way to get them in the holiday spirit," added YAC Director Megan Elliot.

"This is so fun but the snow is really cold and wet. We went sledding down the hill but, I really liked making snowballs and having a snowball fight best of all," said 10-year-old Sydney Avinger, who enjoyed her snow experience for the first time.

Three-year-old Chloe Smith hangs on tight as she maneuvers down the snow chute.

Chase Torres, 2, and Austin Wigley, 9, team up to go down the icy hill.