Before Friday, Debbie Kemp had never seen snow.

The eight-generation Conch did not have to fly north and bear the brutal winter storm that is dumping piles of snow across the United States. She had to go only as far Summerland Key.

The Weather Channel chose the East Caribbean Drive home of musician Howard Livingston and his wife, Cyndi, to stage its Guaranteed White Christmas contest Friday.

"This is so exciting," Kemp said, sporting her red and white Santa dress. "My hands are freezing right now. It's really cold ... I want to be in a snowball fight."

Children sledded down a small hill of snow in the Livingtons' driveway and made snowballs in the front yard. One couple posed for a photo in front of the small hill with a copy of The Citizen to prove to their friends that there was snow in the Florida Keys on Christmas Day.

There never has been a recorded snowfall in the subtropical island chain, according to official National Weather Service records dating back to 1870.

The Livingstons' friends and family made snowmen in their waterfront backyard and even made a snow ramp into the pool. Howard Livingston and his bandmates jammed, even playing a song about the TV channel's "Weather on the 8s" local forecasts. The Weather Channel periodically cut to the Livingstons' home throughout the day for live shots during its broadcast.

"It's really awesome," Howard Livingston said. "It's just great to see the kids and the friends enjoying it."

He was chosen from hundreds of contest entrants who submitted videos explaining why their families deserved a white Christmas. His 60-second piece shows him trying to make snow for his 6-year-old grandson, Michael Walker, in a blender powered by a 1952 Johnson outboard motor.

Livingston won the first of what The Weather Channel says will be an annual contest.

The Weather Channel contracted with Wisconsin-based Sturm's Special Effects International to create the snowstorm in the Livingstons' yard. Sturm ground 20 tons of ice into the snow needed to blanket the Livingstons' property, according to company owner Dieter Sturm.

To create the blizzardlike effect that made it seem like snow really was falling, Sturm used a product called SnoFoam. Originally designed to make snow for movies, SnoFoam is an odorless, biodegradable concoction made from about 90 percent water, Sturm said.

tohara@keysnews.com