Man builds 15-foot tumbleweed snowman in New Mexico. Learn the touching reason why
A New Mexico man is spreading Christmas cheer with a 15-foot snowman made from tumbleweeds.
Jerry Gutierrez Jr. has been putting up the sky-high display at his business, Jerry’s Auto Body Shop, since 2016.
It’s made of massive painted tumbleweeds, plus a bright scarf and a hat. The hat features a Zia symbol in a nod to New Mexico’s heritage; the sacred sun symbol is on the state flag.
The snowman itself is an homage to Gutierrez’s late grandfather, Tony, who used to build smaller tumbleweed snowmen.
“I’d ask him, ‘Why are you building a snowman from tumbleweeds?’ He said, ‘There’s more tumbleweeds than snow in Socorro,” Gutierrez told McClatchy News in a phone interview on Dec. 12.
Tony the Snowman, as Gutierrez calls his creation, usually goes up in early December. It’s become a draw, he said.
“People drive by and then honk. They get out and take pictures of him. There’s a highway where we live, and people will see it on the highway and come back around. They’ll say, ‘We saw that huge snowman,’” Gutierrez said. “We get people from all over, every walk of life, come down and take pictures of it. It’s pretty neat. It cheers everybody up, gets everybody up in the holiday spirit.”
Gutierrez said he has a few spots around Socorro, which is a 76-mile drive southwest from Albuquerque, where he goes to find tumbleweeds large enough to become part of the snowman.
He doesn’t have to refresh the creation every year. Gutierrez stores the tumbleweed pieces, and they tend to last a while, he said.
His loved ones and employees pitch in to help with the snowman, which seems to have particularly caught on this year, he said.
Gutierrez said he’s had one especially meaningful visit so far this season. A man he knows from the community brought his wife, who’s been ill and unable to get around much, Gutierrez said. She saw the snowman in a news report and wanted an up-close look, he said.
When they pulled up and took in Tony the Snowman, “She lit up,” Gutierrez said. “That’s what I wanted to bring (with the snowman) — that right there. That made my whole year right there.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Man builds 15-foot tumbleweed snowman in New Mexico. Learn the touching reason why."
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