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WILKES-BARRE — While the holidays may be over, those who were dreaming of a white Christmas finally got their wish Sunday as dozens of families flocked to Kirby Park to take advantage of the first snow storm of the year.
People of all ages slid down the levee on blow up tubes and sleds while others built snowmen on the ground below. The snow was wet and heavy, creating a thick blanket of pure white across the lawn. The excitement from everyone was palpable.
“We finally got a snow day,” said Noemi Galeno, 22, of Wilkes-Barre, as she pulled her boyfriend’s niece, Rosemary, on a sled toward the levee.
Galeno is a fan of snow when it first begins to fall — not so much when it hits the ground and she has to shovel it. Sunday was different, though.
“I am excited for it because we haven’t had it in a couple years,” she said.
That seemed to be a universal feeling on Sunday.
Kylsie Yashkus, of Plymouth, said that because it hadn’t snowed much in the last few years, it was her 4-year-old daughter Torie’s first time being able to play in the snow.
It was a big deal so Yashkus went out Saturday night and bought Torie everything she would need to have fun the next day. Yashkus was worried the snow would turn to rain just as it had so many times before and they wouldn’t get the chance to enjoy it, but luckily, that didn’t happen.
“(Torie) woke up this morning and she was like, does that mean it’s Christmas?” Yashkus laughed. “I said, ‘No, that’s not how it always works. I wish it did.’”
Yashkus was happy to see the snow too, especially since the holidays passed without a single storm.
“I’ll be honest, Christmas felt like kind of a dud because of the weather being so warm,” Yashkus admitted.
The entire time, Torie was on her hands and knees in the snow, focused on rolling a giant ball.
“I’m making a snowman,” she announced, proudly.
Winter is Matthew VanGorder’s favorite time of year and so the Kingston resident took the opportunity Sunday to play in the snow with his 8-year-old stepdaughter, McKayla.
“I’m a little kid at heart so I love to come out and sled, and she wanted to come out and build a snowman and stuff,” said VanGorder, 28.
Like so many others, VanGorder also felt the past holiday season wasn’t the same without snow. Christmas just didn’t feel right, he said.
“But this kind of makes up for it.”