RANGELEY – The Rangeley Skating Club and the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce are calling the 4th Annual Rangeley Winterpaloozah! a huge success following Sunday’s many competitions and events. The celebration took place on Sunday, Feb. 17, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Haley Pond and Rangeley Town Park.
The Skating Club and the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce teamed up again this year to host the event, which included all the favorites from past years – skating, curling, pond hockey, fat tire bikes, snowshoes, kick sleds, horse & cart rides, marshmallow roast, snow golf, snow kite, snow castle and, new this year, saucer bowling – All FREE! There was also a slate of fun, pay-to-enter competitions for the entire family, with prizes awarded to winners in each competition. Competitions included: Paloozathon Race, Dog Keg Pull, Cardboard Sled Race, Firewood Toss, Fat Tire Bike Race and the Paloozah Carry (a variation on the popular wife-carry event).
Winners of the competitions were:
Paloozathon Race
Men – Jeff Berman
Women – Katie Pye
Dog Keg Pull
Small Dogs – Celine Kuhn with “Brady”
Medium Dogs – Nancy & Gary Perlson with “Scout”
Large Dogs – Echo McDonough with “Lulu”
Cardboard Sled (Best Design) – Hunter White
Cardboard Sled (Race) – Geoffrey Chase
Firewood Toss
Men – Ben Samson
Women – Maureen Clancy
Youth – Luke Gagne
Fat Tire Bike Race – Amy Hediger
Paloozah Carry – Zac Lounsbury & Mia Schulett
This year, agents from the Rangeley Border Patrol station were on hand to meet with participants, take photos and answer questions.
“The Rangeley Border Patrol Station would like to thank everyone who attended the 4th Annual Winterpaloozah,” said Border Patrol Agent Anthony Atkinson. “We had a great time meeting everyone, taking pictures, and answering questions. We look forward to seeing everyone at many more of the upcoming events within Rangeley and the surrounding communities.”
Also joining the event and meeting with event participants were members and equipment from Rangeley Fire & Rescue.
Co-organizer Karen A. Ogulnick, representing the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce noted that the event represented a “tremendous amount of planning” to be successful.
“The successful results reflect the hard word of a small, but highly dedicated group of people,” Ogulnick said. “The satisfaction is in seeing all of the people coming out and enjoying the day with friends and family.”
The organizers were very pleased with the turnout and expressed their appreciation for all the event sponsors and the volunteers who worked so hard to organize the event – and are already looking forward to planning next year’s 5th Annual Rangeley Winterpaloozah.
“Rangeley is a fabulous area for winter play,” Linda Dexter, event co-organizer representing the Rangeley Skating Club, said. “Haley Pond was covered with people having fun, a great sight to see. With the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a scene out of vintage paintings.”
