Events draw crowd
WORTH TWP — Winter this year has been unseasonably warm for the most part, but the temperature Saturday was in the 30s for the Winterfest at Moraine State Park.
A few snowflakes even made a cameo appearance.
“It feels like winter today,” said park manager Dustin Drew.
The sixth annual event, which benefits the Moraine Preservation Fund, featured cross-country skiing and snowshoe demonstrations, food, music, horse-drawn carriage rides and an appearance by Pittsburgh Penguins mascot Iceburgh. Officials anticipated more than 5,000 people would attend the one-day event.
New this year was a 5K run. Tammy McGaughey, a board member of the Moraine Preservation Fund, said organizers added it because they were looking for another activity to offer.
She said 126 people participated in the run.
“We're really thrilled with that,” she said.
This was the first year that Lake Arthur had no ice on it due to the warm weather so access to the lake was blocked off. In the past, visitors could walk out on the ice.
Additionally the lack of snow meant that some activities were limited. There still were skiing and snowshoe demonstrations, but McGaughey said people were not able to actually try those activities.
A long-standing feature has been wood chain saw carving and ice carving.
At the ice carving demonstration, Michael Smith of Pittsburgh was one of the carvers. He noted this was his first public show.
Smith, who is the assistant general manager at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry Township, said the hotel features ice carvings each year for its holiday buffet.
“We decided to learn it ourselves,” Smith said.The general manager at the hotel taught him how to do the carving. Smith's carving of a flounder took him about three hours to complete.Next to Smith, Chris DeFalco of Mars, who is the sous chef at the hotel, was finishing up his ice sculpture. He said he has made these several times in the past.His depiction of a king salmon took DeFalco about an hour and a half to do.“Not bad,” DeFalco said.Another popular feature is the chili cook-off.Sarah Beatrice of Ellwood City and Tara Hall of Pittsburgh stood by a heater to enjoy some of the chili.“We're going to try all of them,” Beatrice said of the several kinds of chili offered.She has come to the event in the past, and even entered a chili in the competition a few year ago.She also participated in the 5K. Normally a hiker, she said this was her first running event of any kind.Hall was at the Winterfest for the first time.“I'm enjoying myself,” Hall said.She also participated in the 5K, and said she planned to visit the North Country Trail booth to look into volunteering with the group.Diane Kolling of the North Hills came simply because she was looking for more activities to do at the park during winter.“We're interested in the cross country ski trails,” Kolling said.She found Winterfest to be enjoyable.“We're happy we came,” Kolling said.
