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22-foot snowman abominable to some
Gawkers clog street in Alaska as 'Snowzilla' returns for second year
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:20 p.m. ET Jan 6, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Snowzilla may be a smash hit with shutterbugs, but the towering snowman has detractors closer to home.

Some neighbors of the two-story-high snowman say they’re fed up with the hordes of gawkers clogging their street.

“When you get 20 people out there in their cars, now the whole street comes to a stop and nobody can get through,” said Anthony Bahler, who can see Snowzilla from his front window. “They just stand out there, in the middle of road, talking about a snowman.”

Bahler’s neighbor, Billy Powers, supervised construction of the original Snowzilla last year. Through the Internet, it became a media sensation, drawing crowds of visitors and TV crews from Japan and Russia before it melted in the spring.

This year, Powers resurrected the snowman and its giant hat made from tomato cages, corncob pipe and beer-bottle eyes. At 22 feet, the new Snowzilla is 6 feet taller than its predecessor.

Once again, traffic is streaming through the neighborhood.

“Everybody likes it,” Powers said. “That’s the reason I do it, really, I like the smiling faces.”

Mike Schmitz, whose family lives next door to Bahler, would prefer if Snowzilla were somewhere else.

“If it’s such a public thing, you’d think the community could get together and find a place to do it,” he said.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16498949/