Littlefork’s annual winter festival included canoe races, cribbage tournament, kids carnival, egg toss, music, theater and more
LITTLEFORK — Below zero temperatures and a dusting of snow didn’t keep smiles off faces of the young and old who participated in the 2011 Littlefork Snow Fun Days Feb. 17-19.
The annual winter festival may have missed the 30 to 40-degree temperatures by less than a week, but the cold was expected and appreciated by organizers.
While Snow Fun Days kicked off Feb. 17, the bulk of the events were held Feb. 19.
The festival’s signature Snow Fun Run 5K walk/run got its start as temperatures dipped to 12 below.
“I think that scared some people off,” said the event’s organizer Keith Boelk. “We didn’t have much for wind, though.”
Runner Jordan Pearson said, “It was a hot race. I overdressed so I could finish.”
Although the number of participants were down a little from last year, 23 runners still came out to brave the cold, Boelk said. (For race results, see the end of this story.)
“Usually we can count on high school students to bring our numbers up, but we didn’t have any of them this year,” Boelk explained.
Nonetheless, Boelk was pleased with the turnout, and even ran the race himself.
“The city did a good job of sanding,” he said. “It was cold, but it was fun.”
Boelk plans to organize the event next year, however, he hopes to hold registration for the run in conjunction with Icebox Days’ Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run registration to draw more numbers to Littlefork.
He added that he was pleased to see a good number of people travel from International Falls to take part in Littlefork’s snowy celebration.
Dan Wendt, who co-organized the canoe races, agreed with Boelk about the weekend’s turnout.
“Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves,” he said.
Wendt said five teams participated in the canoe races, which was one more team from last year.
Team “Capsized” took the first place slot. The team consisted of Haylee Gates, Katie Crane, Levi Pearson, Jordan Pearson and Bill Severud.
“All in all, it was pretty fun. It was a little cool, but this is Northern Minnesota,” Wendt said.
The afternoon featured activities for the younger crowd and their families. A pizza-Frisbee toss had frozen pizza being flung through the air by kids of different age groups. Frozen pizzas were awarded to each winner who could throw their pizza the furthest in their group.
The popular sawdust piles containing change of all sorts drew in quite the crowd of youngsters digging for a fortune. As sawdust started flying, mittens were discarded for maximum digging techniques. Paris Machen emerged from the pile with sawdust covering her from head to toe.
As one onlooker watched over the sawdust mayhem, she said, “Snow Fun Days really is all about the kids.”
Sara Wendt, who organized Polky’s Egg Toss, said she was pleased the overall turnout of the weekend.
“From just being out and about, I am seeing more people than previous years.”
Dozens of eggs were cracking left and right as they slipped through numb fingers. Moses and Simeon Simutkin took first place in the toss.
“I grew up in Littlefork and remember being a part of similar events when I was younger,” Wendt said. “Now, sharing it with my family is really cool.”
The Littlefork Veterans of Foreign Wars held an annual cribbage tournament with an overwhelming turnout, said organizers. More than 60 players participated in the tournament won by Tyrel Hazelton and Adam Gaetzke.
Once the longer-than-expected tournament wrapped up, Sloughgrass, the Birchdale-based bluegrass band, took center stage for a Marathon Jam to raise money for the Minneapolis Fisher House, an organization that supports America’s military and their families in time of need.
Sloughgrass member Soren Olesen said the jam lasted for more than six hours and raised $750 from freewill donations.
“We had a great time,” Olesen said.
The weekend also hosted a two-night performance of “The Villain Wore a Dirty Shirt,” a melodrama set in California during the gold rush.
Cast member John Winkel, who played “Coyote” said both nights had good attendance, but about twice as many people came for Saturday’s performance. He added that he really enjoyed being part of the production by Tim Kelly.
“I was basically the comic relief,” he said with a laugh. “I had a lot of one-liners.”
All in all, organizers and participants agree, the weekend was a success and they are already planning for next year.
For photos, pick up today's edition of The Journal.
2011 Snow Fun Run 5K
Place Name Time Age
Group
1 Bill Severud 21:10 31-49
2 Rob Lucca 22:16 13-30
3 Kirk Aili 22:48 31-49
4 Josh Skime 23:40 13-30
5 Luke Davis 24:10 31-49
6 Keith Boelk 24:32 31-49
7 Nick Scholler 24:54 13-30
8 Cody Holmestad 24:55 13-30
9 Katie Crane 25:46 13-30
10 Sue Palm 26:41 50+
11 Haylee Gates 27:07 13-30
12 Jacie Pearson 27:16 31-49
13 April Pearson 27:59 31-49
14 Lynn Winkel 30:38 13-30
15 Jordan Pearson 32:37 13-30
16 Katie Morrison 32:38 13-30
17 Leroy Winkel 35:38 50+
18 Levi Pearson 36:55 13-30
19 Whitney Mostad 36:56 13-30
20 Tara Gustafson 44:00 13-30
21 Lorain Davis 44:04 13-30
22 Kristi Splett 52:36 31-49
23 Marilyn 52:38 50+
Bergstrom
Age group 13-30
Place Male Female
1 Rob Lucca Katie Crane
2 Josh Skime Haylee Gates
3 Nick Scholler Lynn Winkel
Age group 31-49
Place Male Female
1 Bill Severud Jacie Pearson
2 Kirk Aili April Pearson
3 Luke Davis Kristy Splett
Age group 50+
Place Male Female
1 Leroy Winkel Sue Palm
2 — Marilyn Bergstrom
3 — —
