The World's Oldest Snowball

The Story

It was February 5th, 1976, in San Jose, California, a place where snow wasn’t supposed to happen. I was 14 years old, just a kid who had only seen snow a handful of times and never where I lived. We woke up to a freak snowstorm that dusted our lawns with a few inches of white, and for one magical moment, our neighborhood turned into a winter playground.

We ran outside and made snowballs, throwing them at each other, laughing, and building a snowman right on our front lawn. It felt like something out of a dream in a place where snow almost never falls. As the sun climbed and the snow began to melt, I didn’t want the moment to end. So, on a whim, I made a snowball and put it in the freezer.

I didn’t have a plan. I wasn’t thinking about the future or trying to preserve anything for posterity. I just didn’t want that day to disappear completely. That was it.

At some point, my mom moved the snowball into a Dixie cup and later placed it inside an empty Skippy peanut butter jar, sealing it up and tucking it back into the freezer. And there it stayed. Year after year, in the same house, quietly frozen alongside everyday life.

It became one of those things everyone in the family knew about, but no one really gave much thought to. It was just there.

When my mom passed away in 2017, my dad later moved from San Jose to Reno, Nevada. The snowball came with him. To make the trip safely, it was packed in dry ice and placed in a small cooler, carefully sealed to keep it frozen the entire way. That part deserves credit to my brother-in-law, Brad, who handled the packaging and made sure the snowball survived the move without ever thawing.

Today, the snowball is still frozen, still in that same Skippy jar. Over the years, it’s changed shape. It no longer looks like a perfectly formed snowball. It’s more of a frozen snow “glob” now, but it has never been unfrozen. It now lives in my dad’s freezer in Reno. It spent its entire frozen life in our original house in San Jose until that move.

What started as a simple, impulsive decision by a teenager turned into something I never could have imagined. I didn’t know what I was creating when I put it in the freezer. I just knew I wasn’t ready to let that rare winter day in San Jose melt away.

Snowball Gallery

Betty Shamus was born on June 4, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, she married Larry Shamus, and together they shared 64 years of marriage until her passing in 2017. They raised five children and spent most of their lives in San Jose, California, building a home that was always full of activity, laughter, and people.

Betty loved entertaining and was an amazing cook. Her kitchen was a gathering place, and no one ever left hungry. She had a deep love for children and was actively involved in PTA and teaching children at church. Wherever she was, she found ways to bring people together.

She believed fun and community mattered. She organized a line dancing class for seniors and, for more than 40 years, organized campouts for family and church friends, creating traditions and memories that spanned generations. She loved to play games, laugh, and make sure everyone felt included.

Betty was proud of her family. She had 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, and she delighted in watching the family grow. Her home was always open, and visitors were always welcomed.

She also had a special affection for the snowball. In later years, whenever someone new came over, she made a point to show it to them, pulling it out of the freezer and sharing the story behind it. She enjoyed the fun of it and took quiet pride in how something so small had lasted so long. Over the years, she even invited the local newspaper to cover milestone anniversaries of the snowball, including the 25th, 30th, 35th, and 40th years.

The snowball stayed frozen because Betty made sure it did. Like many things she did in life, she never made a big deal out of it. She simply took care of it.

About Betty

About Jeff

Jeff Shamus is the co-founder and CEO of AllClients, a simple CRM that helps small businesses stay in touch with their customers. He has spent much of his career working in computers, technology, and software, building practical tools designed to be useful without being complicated.

There is also a small coincidence tied to the snowball. Jeff’s business partner at AllClients, Todd Binder, was born in San Jose, California, just six days before Jeff scooped snow off his lawn and put it in the freezer. In an odd bit of symmetry, Todd and the snowball have been aging right alongside each other ever since.

Outside of work, Jeff plays music with Beatles Flashback, a Beatles tribute band that performs at local events throughout the Reno and Tahoe area. Music has always been part of his life, and playing live shows remains something he genuinely enjoys.

Jeff is married, has adult children, and lives in Reno, Nevada. When he’s not working or playing music, he enjoys golfing, traveling by motorhome, and spending time with his border collie, JoJo, who makes sure life never gets too quiet.