Saucer sledding on a sunny day

Marisa O’Neil

It looked more like cocktail ice waiting for a shaker than a freshly

fallen blanket of white.

But with the bright sun beating down and temperatures pushing 80

degrees, the 60 tons of man-made, trucked-in snow transformed

Balearic Park into a crowded, if brief, winter wonderland Saturday

morning. Costa Mesa’s annual Holiday Snow Hill gave local children,

who may be more accustomed to surfing and skateboarding, the chance

to make snow angels and scoot down a hill on a saucer sled.

True to its Southern California venue, however, toddlers played on

the tot lot mound of snow with plastic shovels, pails and other beach

toys.

“Only in Orange County would you have sand toys to play in the

snow,” said organizer Robby Waite, a recreation coordinator for the

city, which along with Costa Mesa-based Torelli Realty, sponsored the

event.

In addition to the fenced-off tot lot, two separate strips of snow

on the green grass awaited sledders. Holden Hodges, 4, took a tumble

off his saucer halfway down the hill, but got back on and continued

undaunted.

The sledding wasn’t as fun as throwing snowballs, he decided.

“I fell off and it’s colder than ice cubes,” 5-year-old Rafael

Riil said of his sled run.

As cold as the snow was, the weather was pure Southern California.

It was so warm that 7-year-old Elizabeth Moledo abandoned her

snowsuit for a T-shirt.

City employees, like preschool teacher Ally Lia, helped groom the

snow, which had a tendency to get hard in the late-morning sun, she

said.

The snow areas were such a hot commodity that long lines of

children wended their ways through the park, waiting for their turns.

And if the snow wasn’t enough, Santa Claus got a lift to the park

via police helicopter. Accompanied by a security detail of elves, he

shook hands with the waiting crowds and settled in a comfy chair to

pose for pictures with eager children, like 4-year-old Satyajit

Mayadas.

Satyajit was just getting over his fear of the man in the red suit

and was looking forward to sitting on Santa’s lap, said his mother,

Kim Mayadas.

After growing up in Massachusetts, a few mounds of snow -- no

shoveling necessary -- was a nice treat, she said.

“It’s much more tame,” she said of Costa Mesa’s snow. “And you

don’t need snow chains.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.