HIGGINS LAKE –Hosted by the Higgins Lake-Roscommon County Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 18-19, Winterfest 2022 was a major success.
Tracy Smith, executive director of the Higgins Lake-Roscommon Chamber of Commerce, said “We would have considered the event a success if we had done 25 percent less than two years ago, but we surpassed those number and are extremely happy!!”
Kick off to the 2022 WinterFest started out on Friday afternoon at Cross Country Ski Headquarters. For just $5, festival goers could rent equipment and enjoy skiing on the freshly groomed trails. BC Pizza was onsite providing complimentary lunch.
With a big line up of activities on Saturday, many people started the day off with a pancake breakfast at the Lyon Township Hall. Festivities for the day began with a WinterFest favorite, the cardboard classic box race down Pioneer Hill. It may have been chilly, but nothing was going to stand in the way of these young folks and their families, as everyone was dressed and ready at the top of the hill gleaming with anticipation.
Onward and upward around the lake to North Higgins State Park, where the bulk of the events took place, you may have been greeted just outside the parking lot by the horse drawn carriage from Triple D Ranch and Rodeo. Moving out to the lake, you could catch the snowmobile radar run, fishing derby and the broomball competition.
Back on land, children and adults were enjoying the ice slide and snowman competition. Hungry patrons were treated to a hot dog lunch at the park or could head over to the Lyon Township Hall for the chili cook off.
A new addition to the Winterfest was the medallion contest. It took four clues and went well into Saturday, but by 5 p.m. Cut River Grill co-owner Scott McNamara announced the Dawes family of Fenton four the medallion at Cold Creek. They won a $250 gift card to Cut River Grille.
The community gathered for the “After Glow” event at Silver Dollar, where there was plenty more fun to be had, including a silent auction, $1,000 prize raffle, award ceremony, and possibly the most competitive event at this year’s festival– the frozen t-shirt contest.
Money raised from the event went toward WinterFest 2023.
Smith said, “It takes 75 total volunteers” to put this event on. Given the smiles of those in attendance, the volunteer hours were well spent and appreciated by everyone involved.
For a list of winners for the WinterFest, please visit facebook.com/HLRCCWinterFest.
