This Year's Snowsfest To Have Carribbean Theme in Hessel

Les Cheneaux Elementary School student Grace Dunn won the 2008 Snowsfest button design contest. She received a plaque and a $50 savings bond from First National Bank, Les Cheneaux Branch.

The Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce will host the 2008 Snowsfest in Hessel Friday, February 15, through Sunday, February 17. This year's event will have a Caribbean theme.

Early planning predicts some new events this year, including moving the traditional snowman burning from Friday night to Saturday morning to give more children the opportunity to participate in the bonfire. Other additions to this year's schedule of about 20 weekend activities include a new biggest fish contest, "pirate games," a shanty judging contest, and a Snowsfest Pub Shuffle Friday night. A new, two-person, nine-hole golf scramble on ice will be offered Sunday.

The Great Lakes Boat Building School is planning to host piratethemed activities to complement the children's games Saturday. A boat pulling contest, tug of war, and eye patch sling-shot contest are some of the games planned.

Anyone ice fishing in the Les Cheneaux Islands can enter the biggest fish contest, and yellow perch, walleye, and pike will be judged. The contest will begin the week before Snowsfest.

Judges will visit registered shanties, and creativity and construction will be among the judging criteria. Register at the Les Cheneaux Welcome Center in Cedarville, or by calling 484- 3935.

The Snowsfest Pub Shuffle will give local tavern patrons the opportunity to vote for their favorite bartender, Caribbean drink, and Caribbean decorations Friday night. Ballots will be at participating taverns and can be turned in Saturday, at the Snowsfest tent.

Snowbuddies will be available again this year. Snowbuddies are wooden snowmen that can be decorated and placed at homes and businesses. The Snowsfest committee is offering the opportunity to decorate them as an alternative to making traditional snow sculptures, since snow accumulation has not been reliable this year. Residents and business owners can still build snow sculptures and decorate windows, and may enter one or more of the three available contests.

Snowbuddies can be purchased for $10 at the Welcome Center. Profits from the sale of Snowbuddies will help pay for Snowsfest activities. Snow statues, window decorations, and Snowbuddy entries should be registered at the Welcome Center.

Snowsfest entry buttons are also available now at local businesses and the Welcome Center, and can be purchased for $4 each. Proceeds from the buttons help cover the cost of activities and prizes over the weekend. Grace Dunn of Cedarville, a Les Cheneaux Elementary School student, won this year's button design contest for her picture of a snowman lounging in the sun.

Participants are asked register early to ensure space in the events and enough prizes, but people are also welcome to register at the events. Poker run registration will be at the Snowsfest tent in Hessel.

Most activities will begin there as well, or have registration there.

The Saturday craft show will be at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Hessel this year.

Craft show coordinators invite people who want to serve concessions there as a fundraiser to apply with the Snowsfest Committee.

The third annual Snowshoe Hare Race will be Saturday, and people of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate at their own pace.

A course has not yet been determined, but the race is expected to start in Hessel, and early registration is encouraged. Call 484-4157 to register or get information.

Participants can walk, run, or jog, and should bring a pair of snowshoes. Use of a free pair of snowshoes will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Les Cheneaux Sportsman's Club will again offer its clay pigeon shoot Saturday. Participants need only come to the Sportsman's Club House east of Cedarville to shoot.

Other activities planned for the weekend include barbecued food, children's games, a cross-country ski tour, and cardboard sled races.

Once the Snowsfest schedule is finalized, schedules will be available at local businesses, and at the Welcome Center.

The St. Ignace News will run a complete schedule of events the week before Snowsfest.

Volunteers are needed, and may call the Welcome Center at 484- 3935 for more information. The Snowsfest Committee is seeking people to run events or help coordinators. A coordinator is needed for the Cardboard Sled Races, which can be held either Saturday or Sunday.

The next Snowsfest Committee meeting is Thursday, January 17, at the Runway Bar on Three-Mile Road in Hessel at 7:30 p.m.