Massive SpongeBob snowmen melt as Illinois’ temperatures soar

BELVIDERE, Ill. (AP) — SpongeBob’s melting. So are Patrick, Squidward, Gary and Plankton.
The massive made-from-snow replicas of the cast of the Nickelodeon cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" aren’t expected to survive this week’s record-setting warm weather.
Dave King spent more than 30 hours crafting the full-color snowmen in his front yard as a way to entertain his children.
"It was everything in my front yard, everything in my neighbor’s driveway, everything in my driveway," the Belvidere resident said. "We were filling the pickup truck full of snow and backing it up and dumping it."
The snowy SpongeBob, the yellow sponge who calls a pineapple under the sea home, is nearly 13-feet tall.
The sculptures are painted with nearly two-dozen cans of spray paint and have drawn hundreds of spectators to King’s northern Illinois neighborhood.
But with temperatures climbing into the mid-50s on Sunday, and spring-like temperatures expected to last through Monday, King said he knows his snow versions of the Pacific Ocean crew won’t last long.
Still, that’s not stopping friends from putting in requests for another round of snow characters — this time from "The Simpsons" or the movie "Cars."
"It’s got to be a tradition now," King said.