HENNESSEY, Okla. (KFOR) — It looks like some kind of colossal, frozen water main break along the highway south of Hennessey, Oklahoma.
“I’ve seen quite a few people out there stop,” says local plumber Boyd Poteet.
But to him, this 25 foot tower of ice is almost a work of art.
“It’s entertaining,” he smiles. “It’s fun to watch people come by to look at it.”
He started fooling around with a sprinkler in winter at his house 40 years ago.
“I started out in my front yard.”
When his cousin built Taggart’s Garden Center, he set up his hose and metal scaffolding where everyone driving on U.S. 81 could see.
“It’s been full stream from a hose for weeks now,” he says.
The water comes from a nearby well. His cousin kind of likes the ‘lookie-loo’ free advertising. When the conditions are just right, lower than 20 degrees Fahrenheit, no wind, he can almost watch it grow.
At one point this week, he turned on the hose. “After 15 minutes you could already see a difference,” he recalls.
So how does this year’s freeform ice sculpture rate? As you might guess it’s right up there with the biggest ever.
Poteet figures, “We’ve had some big ones before, but this one is near the very top.”