By Doug La Rocque
A lack of snow did not translate to a lack of interest in the 33rd Annual Grafton Lakes State Park Winterfest this past Saturday, January 27. There were 45 participants in the yearly Polar Plunge, an event that sees hardy souls take a winter dip in the chilly waters of Long Pond. The event raises money for the Food Pantry at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Grafton. Other than a few blue lips and fingertips, all survived the plunge nicely and members of the New York State Police Dive Team were on hand to assure no one had any mishaps while in the water and they did a great job keeping any curious Polar Bears at bay.
The timing of the annual plunge was moved up this year to become the first event of the day. Park Manager Melissa Ann Miller says they were hopeful the change would help draw more people to the event earlier in the day and that they might stay around and enjoy the other events and vendors. The idea appears to have worked.
It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature
We all know how fickle Mother Nature can be and her meteoric rise and fall of temperatures this month left park workers scrambling to save a number of snow related events. Park Manager Miller says past experience with less than idealistic snow conditions have taught them to pile snow when they have it, at venues where it will be required during the festival. That helped save most events. The major casualty of the weather was, however, the very popular snowmobile rides. No matter how much snow was piled along the trails, the rate of snow melt made hosting the event impossible.
The festival is the park’s biggest event of the year, and Ms. Miller estimates attendance this year was on par with recent years, even if it felt more like spring than winter. Grafton Lakes will be hosting several other winter related events. One can check the Grafton Lakes State Park website, facebook or watch The Eastwick Press for more information.