By JACLYN GODDETTE
NEW LONDON — The 2018 New London Winter Carnival brought the same outdoor fun as years past, but with a new welcomed twist.
The recreation department partnered with Colby-Sawyer College to make the three-day event an even bigger success than in years past.
For example, by hosting last Friday’s Jack Frost Dinner on the college’s quad rather than the town green allowed for participants to use the nearby buildings for bathroom breaks and warming up.
All of the annual event’s 350 tickets were sold, with ticket holders gaining access to a variety of selections from area restaurants.
The college provided free chili, cornbread and s’mores.
And though participants had to brave freezing temperatures, six large fire pits kept ablaze by Boy Scouts Troop 71 warmed up the diners.
Bruce Locke of Barnstead also provided horse-drawn wagon rides.
Ben Maines and Morgan Forrest, seniors at Colby-Sawyer, enjoyed the selection of food, especially Mount Sunapee’s macaroni and cheese.
“It’s nice to see everyone from the community on the quad,” said Maines.
“It would be awesome to have more events like this,” added Forrest.
The partnership between the town and the college came about after years of the winter carnival falling on Colby-Sawyer’s winter recess.
Director of Student Activities Sarah Braun approached Scott Blewitt, the town’s recreation director, to see if they could combine forces.
“The winter carnival is always a vibrant weekend, so we thought it would be a nice opportunity for students and community to interact,” said Braun.
Braun emphasized that the college did not take away from programs or activities offered, but rather just added to the list of events.
One of those additions included a sled dog demonstration by Bailey Friedman on Saturday afternoon.
Friedman, a senior exercise science major from Center Lovell, Maine, completed her internship in Alaska with a sled dog tour company. Her father Michael brought four of their family’s dogs to campus.
Friedman and her father answered questions and let the crowd pet and take pictures with the dogs.
And while there wasn’t enough snow to take passengers on a ride, Friedman took the dogs out for a couple of loops in the field outside the Curtis L. Ivey Science Center.
As soon as Friedman grabbed the harnesses from her father’s truck, the dogs started howling.
Eight-year-old Jackson Flannery helped Friedman put a harness on Slim, a Siberian husky.
Flannery is from Durham, but was spending the day with his uncle, Tom Elliott. He was excited to meet the sled dogs and enjoyed putting on the harness.
“They respond to voice commands. ‘Haw’ is left and ‘gee’ is right,” explained Friedman.
She said the demonstration was a treat for the dogs, too, because they rarely get so much attention from so many people.
Earlier in the day, the college’s Assistant Manager of Housekeeping Mike Peirce and Grounds Supervisor Gregory Ardine hosted an ice-fishing clinic at Otter Pond.
Several families and individuals participated, though nobody caught any fish.
“That’s part of the game,” said Peirce. “It was a great experience anyway, especially because we had several younger kids out there.”
Other Saturday events included snowshoeing with Mark Vernon at Knights Hill Nature Park and a children’s magic show at Tracy Memorial Library.
The Winter Carnival ended with s’mores and a fireworks show at Cougar Court.
As this was their first year working together, Braun and Blewitt plan to go over any issues and resolve them before next year’s winter carnival, which is scheduled for Feb. 7-10.
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