First prize in the Say Real Estate snowman contest went to these socially distancing snowpeople posing with Alliseya Susice, left, and her stepfather Curt Staves on McClelland Street, Saranac Lake. (Provided photo — Jess Genaway)

SARANAC LAKE — Local people under stay-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic were so in need of a pick-me-up that late-season snow was welcomed with glee.

As several inches of snow returned to cover the ground Monday, Cherrie Sayles organized a snowman-building contest. The principal broker of Say Real Estate in Saranac Lake asked people to post photos of their snow people on Facebook, and she would judge the winner and give a $200 gift certificate to any local business.

“I was out snowshoeing, and I thought, boy, what a great snowman day,” Sayles said Wednesday. “It just kind of fell out of me.” About 45 families entered.

“We were going all day long,” she said. “The first one came in about 15 minutes after I posted it.”

She liked the entries so much that she ended giving out two $50 honorable mention prizes in addition to the grand prize.

Above, From left, Colden, Hayden and Camden Damour and their snowman are all waiting for fishing season to arrive. They received one of two honorable mention prizes in the Say Real Estate contest. (Provided photo — Heather and Mark Damour)

“Phew that was so hard,” she wrote on Facebook. “(E)veryone who entered is Amazing.”

The $200 first prize went to Jess Genaway, who posted a picture of two social-distancing snowmen standing far apart in her front yard in Saranac Lake. The honorable mentions went to the Damour family, which made a snowman eager to go fishing, and the Abrams family, whose “Daddy day care” snowman was seen holding their two young children: one on its shoulders and a baby in its arms.

Sayles said she plans to announce another weekly challenge Monday.

“I was so happy everybody got outside, just cracking the anxiety,” she said. “Happy hunkering!”

An honorable mention prize in the Say Real Estate snowman contest went to this one helping with daddy day care for Ivy Abrams, sitting on its shoulders, and baby brother Ashton Abrams in Rainbow Lake. Provided photo — Brian Abrams)

Sisters Emma Kielmeier, left, and Kathryn Raymond pose with a snowman using their mailbox as its gaping mouth. (Provided photo — Adrienne Relyea)

This snowman is on top of current events with its mask, gloves and Enterprise front page. (Provided photo — Janet Simkins)