Snow Brightens Day at Community Park

“Yeeee-haw!” yelled Willie Rodriguez as he careened down a snow-covered slide Wednesday afternoon at Hubert H. Humphrey Park.

The Pacoima 7-year-old was one of more than 100 children at the fourth annual “Snow Day” event that featured the distribution of about 1,200 toys, a simulated rock-climbing wall and snow blanketing most of the park’s grass field.

Children from all over the northeast San Fernando Valley played in more than 40 tons of the white stuff, which by 1 p.m. was melting in the 73-degree heat.

Willie, dressed in gloves, hat and sweater, said he had never seen snow before.

But he quickly learned to pack tight snowballs and pelt his friends, who retaliated with their own artillery.

Jessica Avalos, 3, shoved fistfuls of snow in her mouth as her cousin, Leslie Avalos, 8, built an angular little snowman nearby.

Benito Bermudes, 8, spent most of his time chasing girls, playfully threatening them with snowballs.

“It’s amazing that these kids usually don’t see snow, but they know exactly what to do,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, who helped the city’s Recreation and Parks Department sponsor the event, along with Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

“This is especially meaningful for the community because it’s been through a lot of tragedy,” Padilla added, noting that a series of shootings have occurred in the park area in recent months. “Snow Day is a gift for them.”