Neighbors Line Local Street With Inflatable Snowmen To Support Hazlet Family

HAZLET, NJ — A local neighborhood is showing its support for a Hazlet family this holiday season by lining the streets with inflatable snowmen.

This holiday project began after a local family, who have been Hazlet residents for 13 years, lost their husband and father to a three-year battle with cancer at the end of November.

Following his passing, the man’s widow, Tara (who is only being identified by first name to protect her family’s privacy), told Patch that she was searching for a way to bring some joy back to her daughter as the holiday season approached.

As she was brainstorming ideas, she recalled a street in Greenville, South Carolina, that's become known to some as "Santa Street."

According to a report from GVL Today, the street has become known for having huge, inflatable Santas, a tradition that began after an Earle Street resident was in the hospital with her ill father and asked by friends and neighbors what they could do to help.

At the time, the report said the resident had been scrolling on her phone and saw a video of a Canadian neighborhood with giant inflatable Santas in every front yard.

After sending the video to her friends, the inflatable Santas not only came to her house, but also spread to her neighbors' homes. Before they knew it, the street full of Santas had become a local tradition.

“We have family there [South Carolina] and we always visit the street,” Tara told Patch. “It gave me the idea of neighbors supporting a family, and I thought, ‘maybe I can get some neighbors to do this for [her daughter].’”

From there, Tara said one Facebook post “turned into a flurry of beautiful support,” with 31 neighbors coming together to line Fleetwood Drive with 10-foot inflatable snowmen as a sign of support for her daughter.

Though Fleetwood Drive is the street that has been dubbed as “Snowman Street,” Tara said there are also snowmen located throughout town on Annapolis, Stanford, Cornell and Virginia Ave.

Once the snowmen were set up, she said her daughter was surprised this past Tuesday when her close friends came to walk with her through the street of houses that were lit up for her with lights and inflatable snowmen.

While most of the neighbors who participated in the project were strangers beforehand, Tara said they are now part of the family’s “support village,” and that many came out to wave, hand out cookies, candy canes and hot cocoa to the kids as they walked through the street.

“While nothing will bring my dear husband and her dad back, this act of love and kindness from my neighbors is appreciated more than I can express,” Tara said.

Some photos of the inflatable snowmen throughout Hazlet can be seen below: