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Mount Blue State Park to Host Winter Family Fun Day Feb. 4

January 22, 2012 - Weld — When the fourth annual Winter Family Fun Day arrives Saturday, Feb. 4, at Mount Blue State Park, Bruce Farnham hopes it will be preceded by plenty of snow.

“That last storm, we probably got 4 inches and today we just got a dusting, really, so we're kind of like most places,” the park manager said Tuesday in Weld.

“I mean, it's all white on the ground, but I don't want to brag about it. I'm assuming we'll get some snow by then, but I don't know what Plan B is at this point.”

Regardless of whether enough snow falls between now and then, Farnham said the event will be held.

“We've done it before with not a lot of snow,” he said. “We just kind of make some tracks in the snow for skiing and the same thing with snowshoeing, we just do a little bit out in the field.”

Family Fun Day will offer Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, ice skating, sliding, tote and hay rides, a snowshoe nature walk, bonfire, warming hut, a winter camping demonstration, Smokey the Bear, and a hot lunch.

The cost is $1.50 for ages 12 to 64; free for everyone else.

They will have a trailer loaded with skis that people can try on and use for the day, with lessons provided as needed.

They've also got about 40 pairs of snowshoes people can use and an instructor from Northern Lights in Farmington.

And then there's the ice rink, which Farnham bills as “the most beautiful outdoor skating rink in Maine.”

“We have a few skates, but we encourage people to bring them,” he said. “There's usually somebody on the ice helping people skate.”

Describing the tote ride, he said it involves a tow-behind sled that can seat about six people and it's pulled by a snowmobile.

“We take them down into the park to a place where they can get a view and to an old foundation,” Farnham said.

Sliding is done on Center Hill, with snowmobile club members taking children up it.

Hannaford provides the food, so hot dogs and hamburgers are cooked on site.

If the weather cooperates, the event can attract 600 people or more, but if it doesn't, crowd size usually runs between 150 to 200 people, Farnham said.

A couple of outdoor clubs and some school groups have already said they'd participate.

“So, we're kind of a little weather dependent, but we usually have a good crowd,” he said.

“If it's a good day with decent snow, we'll have 600 people here. It's a busy place if it's a good day. If we get a decent day, it's a lot of fun.”

Terry Karkos, Sun Journal, January 2012


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