Colebrook Winter Carnival 2016 Scheduled
Event to be held February 27, 2016.
In 1998 Mary Jolles, then in her 2nd year as principal at Colebrook Elementary School, wanted to find a fun activity that engaged both parents and children. Someone mentioned that the community had held a winter carnival for many years but that it had been discontinued some years back. Mary Jolles imagined an event resurrection and with the help of the Colebrook Downtown Development Association, the Colebrook Winter Carnival was reborn in 1999.
If you can imagine a regional outdoor winter block party, you would grasp the fundamental mission of this winter celebration. It's about kids, family, fun, and winter. The sponsors have grown and changed over time, and yes, there is a pancake breakfast at the school to benefit the 7th & 8th grade class trip, but the event's main thrust is simply, purely winter fun. Hot food and drinks will be available throughout the day and there's also a 50/50 raffle and a large-screen TV raffle.
Over the years the event has done many things: winter golf, kid's snowshoe races, a Little Jack Frost and Little Miss Snowflake competition (for the best 'winter' themed dressed 4-6 year old) but today the event is more tame... enjoying downhill canoe races (in lieu of toboggans), adult and child bocce tournaments, free dog sled and horse drawn sleigh rides, ice skating, tubing, and perhaps its signature event, the cardboard box derby.
Weeks in advance, students in Colebrook, Pittsburg, Errol, Stewartstown and Canaan, VT are offered cardboard sheets. Students and parents can then work on the most imaginative construction of a cardboard box entry for the downhill race. Through the years the competition has seen many ingenious iterations: ships, tanks, sharks, rocket ships, outhouses, birthday cakes and so much more. They offer prizes too... Best Box, First Finish, etc. And just to show how really, really fun this event is, they also offer a prize for 'Best Wipeout'.
It doesn't get any more fun than this!
Do save the date, February 27th, 2016. We'll publish a complete schedule as soon as all the events/venues are confirmed.