Milton Rec plans winter fun

By COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
courtney@miltonindependent.com

The Milton Recreation Department will host another weekend of winter festivities, rain, snow or otherwise.

The fourth annual Winter Festival is planned next weekend, Friday, Feb. 10 to Sunday, Feb. 12. Most events are free or for a nominal fee.

Events kick off with the annually successful Party in the Park at the municipal building. There, families will be treated to free hot cocoa and pizza and can warm up next to a bonfire or go skating on the basketball court-turned-ice-rink.

Rec is again bringing back the luminary-lit snowshoe walk, but this year, Milton Elementary School students and the Milton Community Youth Coalition will decorate the walking path with snow sculptures, Rec Coordinator Kym Duchesneau said. Snowshoes will be available onsite.

Fireworks, set off by local business owner Michael Boisjoli, will cap the night.
Then residents can wake up for a community breakfast at the Apollo Diner. The regular menu will be served but by some famous guests.

Milton celebrities will aid the diner staff in waiting tables. The red carpet roster includes fire/rescue Chief Don Turner, Miss Vermont USA Jamie Dragon and her father, racecar driver Brent Dragon; Milton schools Superintendent John Barone, Milton police Sgt. John Palasik, high school teacher Derek Demers and community volunteer extraordinaire George Caban.

Duchesneau thinks the breakfast will be the biggest draw this year.

“That will be so fun, just all these different people and especially Miss Vermont [USA] and her dad the racecar driver,” she said. “I think that will be really fun.”

Regular tips go to the Apollo waitstaff, but all celebrity tips are donated to the Milton Family Community Center food shelf.

The diner will also host facepainting and the Project Reach Out group from the elementary school, a basket raffle fundraiser to help needy families.

The day continues with sledding at Sharp Park on Cobble Hill. For small fees, Miltonians can rent two-for-one snowtubes and drink more hot cocoa.

There’s also a day hike on Eagle Mountain planned – snowshoes included if there’s snow. Visitors can park at the new Henry Road lot and join the Conservation Commission for some beautiful natural sites.

Judy Kinner, Conservation Commission chairwoman, said the hike is easy and for all ages. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the lookout, where climbers can see frozen views of Lake Champlain.

Hikers will likely see animal tracks in the snow – fox, deer, coyote and wing imprints from birds that swooped to catch their prey.

“People who like to hike close to home, if they want to take an hour and escape into the woods, it’s easily accessible,” Kinner said.

Saturday night ends with a sock hop at the New Life Christian Fellowship, the ’50s theme complete with music from Bobby and the Retrotones and timely treats of popcorn and root beer floats.

Sunday brings back the ever-popular horse-drawn sleigh rides. In case of no snow, the cart can be converted into a wagon.

Lake Champlain Access Television will again bring its mobile video lab to show kids how to shoot and edit film, and children’s librarian Kathy Dulac will guide a StoryWalk with “John, Paul, George and Ben,” a patriotic book by Lane Smith.

Duchesneau hopes Milton will come out for fun, no matter the weather.

“People kind of get cooped up in the wintertime; sometimes you don’t even see your neighbors for three months,” she said. “It’s nice to just get out there and enjoy the outdoors and Vermont and visit with people and see people you haven’t seen in a while.”