Frosty’s Winter Wonderland

Rachael Maughan, Staff Writer

Rachael Maughan
Frosty’s Winter Wonderland is a house Avenues spreading the Christmas spirit.

The holiday season is full of celebration, merriment and tradition. People and places go all-out with decorations and community service.

Up in the Avenues there is a house doing just this: Frosty’s Winter Wonderland. It is a house that can be spotted from a mile away because of its bright lights and elaborate decorations.

As you drive up the street you are immediately greeted by the shining lights and “Happy Holidays” sign along the top of the roof. The trees and porches lined with colorful lights provide a background for the main attraction: the blow molds. A multitude of these figures with lights in them cover the yard and roof.

Forrest “Frosty” Nunley has been decorating his house like for the last 27 years. It has grown to be quite the attraction with about a hundred cars driving by every night. It has helped to make the holiday season more special for him.

[It’s] much more rewarding when you make other people happy,” Frosty says.

It all started when Frosty began to string Christmas lights on his porch, and wanted to do a lot more.

He went to Kmart and Sears to buy more lights and decorations. Then, about 20 years ago he met Mr. Christmas, AKA Larry Wood, who had loved decorating his house for Christmas, but was no longer able because of his age. Frosty bought many of the blow molds from Mr. Christmas, and that was the beginning of an addiction to the plastic figurines.

Some are from the 70’s, 60’s, and even 50’s. Unfortunately all companies stopped production of blow molds about two years ago. This makes the decorations that much more valuable and special.

To save energy and money, the blow molds run off of an air conditioner panel, and use LED bulbs to light them up.

All of these decorations take hours of labor and hard work, and it all pays off when people come to the extravaganza. With a fire pit going and a radio featuring Christmas songs and the bright decorations, it truly is a sight to see. For the month of December, Frosty sits outside and passes out treats and goodies such as reindeer headbands and candy canes to young visitors.

It has become a popular tradition for many, and Frosty plans to continue it for as long as he can.

“I keep it going because it brings so much happiness to other people. I would hate to have that stop,” Frosty says.

You can find Frosty’s Winter Wonderland at 805 E 18th Ave, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103 or visit their facebook page @frostyswinterwonderland.