CARTHAGE — It may not have been the Olympics, but the winter games at Carthage Winterfest were met with as much enthusiasm.
After a year’s hiatus, the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its winter event featuring two of the favorite contests — the cardboard sled race and the ladies fry pan toss. About 100 people came out Saturday for the festivities, which also included bingo, a magic show and balloon animals, raffles and vendors.
The Carthage Central High School JROTC aided in running the competitions and judged the creativity of the cardboard sleds.
Sleds included Mario Bros. karts, a tank, a race car, an EMS snowmobile, a bobsled, unicorn and police snowmobile.
The bobsled was deemed to be the most creative sled. Matthew Grandjean and his mother Kelli Mose made the sled in honor of her uncle, Jim Mose, who was part of the 1961 Olympic bobsled team. The sled featured the cover of Sports Illustrated from that year showing the bobsled team. Team Mose did not fare well in the racing, but in the family division, the team had the most spectacular crash at the finish.
The Pee Wee category of the cardboard sled race for elementary children was the most contested with six racers.
It was a winning day for Kimball Racing, with Savannah Kimball winning the Pee Wee division with a time of 9.8 seconds on her EMS snowmobile. Her brother on the snow patrol police snowmobile won the Junior Free Style division for middle school children with a time of 8.4 seconds. The snow patrol police snowmobile sled won for overall design.
The Mejias family, of Evans Mills, won the Family category race with a time of 11.8 seconds in their tank sled. Vani, 9, said the family decided to make a tank sled since his dad is in the Army.
Jen Scurry, of Carthage, won the ladies fry pan toss with a distance of 41 feet.
“We’ll take it to Beijing,” Ms. Scurry said, noting she is 9 months pregnant which she felt helped her throw.
It was her family’s first time attending Winterfest and her first time in the fry pan competition. Her son Liam, 5, wearing a Cat Boy cape, competed in the Pee Wee sled division in his race car sled.
“It’s good fun,” she said, adding, “we’ll come again next year.”
Another first-time attendee, Amanda Davis, of Copenhagen, also said she would be back next year as she picked up a sled race rules list.
She said her 5-year-old liked the sled races and wanted to participate.
Chamber Director Rebecca J. Wallen said overall the event went well and expressed thanks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary members for their help running the bingo games and to Steven J. Haggerty of City Dawgz of NNY for setting up his food stand.
“It was so great to see everybody here at a community event,” Ms. Wallen said. “It is a great morale booster. I’m overwhelmed by the turn out and being able to hold an event.”
She said the chamber will be hosting its first Business After Hours networking event from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the VFW Post, 668 West End Ave.
