Spreading holiday cheer
Volunteers make an ill boy's dream of a white Christmas come trueBy Sue Stock, Staff Writer
WAKE FOREST - When 8-year-old De-Nikko Smith woke up early Sunday, he eagerly looked out his window hoping to see snow.
There was nothing on the ground yet on this relatively warm late December morning.
But he went to church confident that his white Christmas would arrive. Indeed, mounds of fluffy snow came a few hours later -- in several dump trucks.
A dozen volunteers got busy with shovels and rakes to create a gift made possible by the folks at The Factory Ice House, a nearby ice skating rink, who chose De-Nikko and his family for a white Christmas.
When they were through, De-Nikko's front yard was coated in about 3 inches of snow, from the house's front steps, underneath the bushes and almost out to the street.
Surveying the surreal scene Sunday, Michigan native Bryan Dudzinski was seeing his idea come to life.
The senior director of operations for the skating rink said, "I grew up with it my whole life. It's just not Christmas without snow."
And for De-Nikko, it was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary year.
De-Nikko was diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago with a kidney disease that is slowly shutting down his kidneys.
Since then, he's been in and out of the hospital. He takes 17 medications, endures daily dialysis treatment and is awaiting placement on the list for an organ transplant.
"He's a tough little kid," said his mother, Nikki Harris.
Along with caring for De-Nikko, Harris is also raising three other children, trying to continue working as a hair stylist and fretting about paying the bills.
With all those prescriptions to pay for, Harris said, the bills pile up.
"The one, a blood thinner, Lovenox, costs $1,143," she said, for a 20-day supply.
Medicare helps, and so do some area friends, Harris said. But it's still a lot for the family to bear.
So Sunday's white Christmas was welcome excitement and a source of hope for the whole family.
"I feel special because we're the only house on the whole block with snow," said Tyresha, De-Nikko's 16-year-old sister.
The effort to make the white Christmas gift was a logistical feat, Dudzinski said.
The staff at The Factory flooded its two rinks with 40,000 gallons of water and then painstakingly scraped it off using a Zamboni machine.
Ninety-eight percent of the water came from an on-site system The Factory uses to clean and recycle water, Dudzinski said, so the project didn't drain city supplies.
Then they recruited two friends who have businesses that use big trucks to help them haul the snow.
All involved were happy to help.
"Every day, he's got it harder than any of us," said Will Grantlin of Grantlin Landscape Services in Wake Forest, who donated his time and the use of his truck.
The volunteers didn't know how long the snow would last. A lot depends on the temperature and how much it rains. But they were hoping it would last until Christmas.
And the staff of The Factory Ice House didn't seem to mind the work.
Mostly high school students on Christmas break, the volunteers showed up early Sunday ready to work. Some were as awed by the snow as the family.
"This is the most snow I've ever seen in my life," said Myssie Flowers, an 18-year-old from Louisburg.
As the pile of snow on the lawn grew, passersby stopped and stared.
Motorists, including a Wake Forest police officer and a mailman, slowed down to stare. Some pointed to the snow. Others called out to the family.
And neighbors came out of their homes to see what was happening.
Nikki Harris said the whole neighborhood could come over to play -- "as long as they don't hit the windows."
And, for De-Nikko, the opportunity to have a snowball fight with his three siblings and his neighborhood friends was a great holiday gift.
"The best part was hitting my brothers with snowballs," he said, before heading inside hand-in-hand with his mother for a cup of hot cocoa.
(919) 829-4649 or sue.stock@newsobserver.com
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/846473.html
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