Hundreds celebrate winter at Moraine
MUDDY CREEK TWP — Hundreds of people took to cross country skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, dancing, eating and playing at Moraine State Park for WinterFest on Saturday.
The event is put on by Moraine Preservation Fund, and vice president Cassandra Dixon said it’s been around for 10 years.
While last year was canceled due to COVID-19, the return of WinterFest meant new additions to the festival like a Marshmallow Stuffing contest, bluegrass music by band Well Strung and more.
The event’s goal is to expose families to the park and get them to return.
“We take people on family hikes, we always have children's activities and we used to do a chili cook-off,” Dixon said. “Part of our mission is to promote the stewardship of the park.”
She said they want attendees to have fun, but also notice the beauty of the park during all seasons.
“If you stop and look up, the ice in the trees is something to take pictures of. People are shocked to see eagles flying overhead ... The more people that come to the park it brings more attention to those who can fund the park, it’s employees and it encourages people to volunteer.”
Amy Cannard, member of the Moraine Sailing Club, said the group enjoyed themselves talking to attendees about the Preservation Fund and Lake Arthur. She herself enjoyed dancing to Well Strung most of all.
“I love the music and the dancing,” Cannard said. “And of course, looking at the beautiful trees glistening with ice. It’s a winter wonderland. The ice crystals and sparkles at every turn.”
Two band members of the band Well Strung, Corey and Valerie Wood, said it was their first time at the festival. They were astonished at the amount of people attending.
“It’s very nice, we didn’t expect such big turnout,” Valerie said.
The band played a number of original songs as well as famous covers by artists such as Johnny Cash while people swing-danced to the music.
Valerie said the band enjoyed the enthusiasm of the attendees.
“Dancing is normal with bluegrass, we encourage it,” she said. “It’s nice that people get so into it.”
Ice fishermen worked on the frozen lake, which was teaming with families throwing snowballs, huskies gallivanting and people snowshoeing.
The line was never ending at the Fairground Market food truck and the Husky PAWS Rescue, where people approached to pet and play with the dogs.
Secretary Polly Bray said Husky PAWS has been setting up at WinterFest since 2018 and has had many inquiries about husky adoption from the event.
“It’s nice meeting everybody, it’s a nice winter event. There’s not a whole lot of them,” Bray said. “It’s fun watching the dogs be in their element.”
Chain saw carving artist Damian Skal showed off various wood works and even demonstrated his craft on an owl piece. A flock of people migrated to watch him use the chainsaw to create feathers and a beak on the artwork.
Skal said he couldn’t believe the large crowd that attended this year.
“It’s an opportunity for people to come out to Moraine in winter,” he said. “Considering it’s this cold, people usually like to stay in their houses. But today is beautiful. It’s awesome. It’s cool too because (this event) introduces people to snowshoeing and cross country skiing.”
First-time attender Alex Bulow got into the spirit of the fest. He cross country skiied from the parking lot to the fest and signed up for the Marshmallow Stuffing contest as well, where contestants competed in teams to shove as many marshmallows in their mouths as possible in 20 seconds.
“It’s a beautiful day for a WinterFest,” Bulow said.
