Winter Festival - there will be Ice and Snow no matter what Mother Nature does!!

The Walton Fairgrounds will be transformed into a celebration of winter in true Northeastern style for the 3rd Annual Winter Festival on Saturday, January 21, 2012. 

The event will feature a spectacular ice carving competition, with carvers from the American Culinary Federation and including Delaware County's own SUNY Delhi Ice Carvers competing against one another and Mother Nature. Beautiful forms to local business logos will be carved that day.Competitors will be toting chainsaws, chisels, blowtorches, and other special tools of the trade. Top professional ice carvers will judge the sculptors and crown a champion by day's end.

 

     This one-day, family-oriented festival will also feature a horse-drawn carriage and sleigh exhibition, figure skating demonstration, ice skating, snowmobile races, wood carving competition, and children’s’ winter-related activities. Food vendors will be on-site to make sure everyone has a warm and full belly!

     Registration for the snowmobile races will begin at 8 a.m., and the festival opens at 9 a.m. The Hamden Hill Ridge Riders will collect $5 per person at the gate; half of the funds will be designated for Delaware County flood victims.  This event is sponsored by the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, the Hamden Hill Ridge Riders, the Walton Chamber of Commerce, Mang Insurance Agency and the Watershed Post.

The Winter Festival and ice makes us think about the Hanford Mills Ice Harvest festival coming on its heels on February 4th - so mark that date as well.  There's always winter fun on tap in the Great Western Catskills of Delaware County. Check out another great winter blog we love - Winter In The Catskills!!

Delhi's Outdoor Education Center

We receive email news updates from several of our local businesses.  One I personally look forward to reading every word of are the weekly updates from Good Cheap Food on Main Street in Delhi. Faiga Brussels, the owner, loves Delhi and constantly adds tidbits to her market updates on events and other goings-on in the village and outlaying areas.  I just had to repost her email from yesterday which was dedicated to one of the wonderful recreational assets of Delhi.........

Hello Everyone,

I  wanted to take a moment to remind you about the Outdoor Education Center of SUNY Delhi--a park two miles out of Delhi on the right side of Rte 28 as you head toward Andes. You'll see a wooden sign, and can pull down in to the parking lot.

The park is an old farm that belongs to the college and was turned into a park by Americorps volunteers years ago.

Now is a great time to go. The park is lush, beautiful and perfumed by stands of wild phlox (otherwise known as dame's rocket or its latin  hesperis matronalis, info courtesy of Mermer Blakeslee) and the flowering black lotus trees.

Walk from the parking lot to the little welcome kiosk, and follow the path beyond the kiosk, bearing right until you pass a stone bench. After the bench there is a path on the left leading down to the lower level of the park. When you get to the bottom of the incline, the road will split. Don't worry about getting lost, as all roads eventually converge and will lead you to a path that goes uphill back to the parking lot. But at the bottom, where the path splits, bear right. This route is a little longer, but takes you along the bottom of the hill under a canopy of trees and a lovely stone wall built years ago by  Americorps volunteers, including Delhi's Jane DeWitt who now has her own stone masonry business in town. Keep bearing right. The path  narrows and winds  through ferns, wild phlox and a profusion of buttercups,  across wooden planks and out to the river. Turn left at the river, under a forest of Japanese knotweed, and wonder along the river path. Woods and fields are littered with wild phlox.

There are Adirondack chairs and access points to the river to cool your feet, fish, or let your dog go for a swim.  Eventually you'll come upon a stand of black locusts that are in riotous bloom, covered with white lantern like sweet smelling flowers that drape down over the river. Under the largest of these trees there is a picnic table.  Keep on going, and you'll find a butterfly garden not yet in bloom, but with benches for a rest. Soon there is the first path back up, but just beyond this  you'll see a gate which leads to the labyrinth, which has been mowed recently.

If you continue walking eventually you'll come upon another path up, and further along, after a bog and two stands of wild yellow irises, the path you came down upon will be on your right. The boggy water is home to lots of peepers.

BTW, this stroll takes only ½ hour. Lengthen the walk by trying detours and walking the upper fields near the parking lot. You will usually be the only car in the parking lot.

This place is a piece of heaven. Enjoy.

Winter, inside and out

Catskill Scenic Trail

I popped into Lucky Dog Farm Store to pick up a sandwich for lunch the other day and met a retired couple that  I had hiked with a few years back.  Lucky for me his memory was better than mine! We had a great chat about hiking in the Catskills and about how some folks absolute LOVE for the winter season.  His body loves cold weather and is uncomfortable in the heat of the summer. I asked if he meant the heat of the summer here and laughed when he said yes.  I find summers incredibly delightful, blissfully cool in the evenings. But I did agree with him on winter. After ten years of being here full time, I have finally found the winter cold enjoyable as well.  Go figure.

What makes someone a winter person?  I'm not sure if my metabolism changed to work better in the cold or if it was more the clothes and tools!!!  Now that we have heat packs for our boots and gloves, high tech super-wicking fabric for long johns, polar fleece, balaclava's, heated handles and seats on snowmobiles and in cars, 4 wheel drive, uber-insulated boots,  there's almost nothing to worry about!!

But if you're looking for things that don't require layers of clothing, yet do provide an inside space - there are lots of fun and healthy things going on during the cold months. 

SUNY Delhi opens their aquatic center, and the mini-dome, which houses their fitness center and tennis courts, to the public during the year.  The hours can vary depending on when school is in session and student related activites - but the facilities are wonderful and a great way to work-out indoors over the winter.

The Roxbury Arts Group holds classes from Yoga to Dance throughout the winter.  Check in with them to see if anything is up and coming.  You may think the West Kortright Centre shuts down during the winter but not so..... They hold workshops too just in other locations. Check into their upcoming book binding workshop.

There are a plethora of local yoga instructors holding classes in churches or community centers - but we're at a loss for an online resource to give you. This is a word of mouth - flyer on the window of a local business - source of information, so ask around.

One of the unknown gems of the winter is the Honest Brook Music Festival's winter series.  Their once a month concerts take place in private homes so you are guaranteed an intimate environment in which to hear wonderful classical music.  

While I used to spend the winter hunkered down and safe from storms - having a great attitude about getting out and about and taking advantage of everything that local business owners and organizations do to keep us entertained and fit really does pay off in fun times and great memories.  Try some out for yourself and comment here on the results!!