Whitehall Winterfest on ice

You are currently viewing Whitehall Winterfest on ice

By Dan King

One of Whitehall’s favorite annual events will be on hiatus this year – the Whitehall Winterfest, which traditionally takes place in early February, won’t be happening.

In previous years the event has featured activities such as the “Penguin Plunge,” a chili cook-off, snowmobile rides, sledding and more.

“It really is unfortunate,” said committee member Marge Mohn. “It’s a great community event.”

This year the event was put on hold after Dana Grant, who has been involved in it for “tens of years,” decided to step away. Mohn was hopeful that she could get people interested in helping to organize the event, but a lack of interest has forced her to ax the festival.

“I’m sure a lot of people are disappointed, because it is a great community event,” Grant said. “In a small community, with a small committee, it is hard to run something like this, and you don’t want to do it halfway, you want to give it your all.”

Grant said he felt he couldn’t give it as much effort as he had in past years. He was optimistic, however, that the event could come back in even greater fashion when 2016 rolls around.

“Certainly people are saddened,” he said. “But hopefully they take that energy and make it an even better event next year. Taking a year off isn’t always a bad thing.”

Mohn said she is now looking toward 2016 and hoping to garner interest in organizing it and making it a huge success.

“I would say that we are just looking toward getting people interested in it for next year,” she said. “I guess this just wasn’t our year.”