The winter ennui is over! The Northport Winter Carnival is back!!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, Feb. 22 from noon to 4 p.m. at Braman Hill in Northport. There’s lots to do to get ready for it! Find your best chili recipe, help your children or grandchildren make a sled for the cardboard sled competition (kids only), or organize a broomball or milk jug curling team and start practicing!
This year’s Winter Carnival, the first in many years, will include all of those activities plus open skating on one of the ice rinks, live music, and a bonfi re for s’mores. Hot dogs and hot chocolate will be available for purchase.
The warming center at Braman Hill will be available on Sat., Feb. 15, with all the supplies for kids to make sleds ahead of time. The Northport School PTO will be on hand at the warming center with supervision and supplies that day.
The chili categories this year are Traditional, Veggie, White, and Wild Game. Bring the chili in a crock pot, hot, and with a list of any known allergens.
Information about the Northport Winter Carnival is available on Facebook. Sign-ups for the chili contest, and the broomball and milk jug curling contests will be available next week. They are looking for volunteers to help with parking.
If you have any questions, or to volunteer, you can send them to npwintercarnival@gmail. com.
If you want to get in some practice on those ice skates or regular sleds, Braman Hill Recreation Center, a Leelanau Township Park, is open.
This Saturday, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum at Leelanau State Park is hosting a 1.3-mile snowshoe hike around the historic site, a tour of the Lighthouse and a visit to the gift shop. The hike starts at 10 a.m. at the gift shop. A MI State Park Recreation Passport is required for your vehicle. Snowshoes will be available at no charge. Call the Lighthouse at 231-386-7195 for more information.
We were very sorry to learn of the recent death of Nick Bronke. Nick was the husband of Samantha and the father of their six children, ages 6 months to 15 years. He was the son-inlaw of Richard and Cheryl Huffman, and grandson-in-law of Sunny Colling. Nick and his family lived in Omena for many years.
Nick loved cooking with his daughters and painting pictures with the boys. He learned to work on cars from Richard and Cheryl and became quite adept. He was only 35 years old, and will be missed.
The Omena News had a rather inauspicious start to the year with missing the last two weeks. Happy Birthday two weeks ago to Dennis Armbruster, Becca Carlson, Larry Fox, Donna Kalchik, Mike TenBrock, and to Daxton Kalchik, who turned 3.
Happy Birthday last week to Dean Anderson, Ryan Blessing, Emaleigh Duffiney, Barb Harris, Paula McMenamy, Marcia McMorrow, Lori Phillips, John Phillips, and Tiffany Singer.
Happy Birthday this week to Thad Tomlinson and to David DeWitt.
Our thoughts are with the many people here and around the country who have been, and are being, impacted by the LA area fires. We know some who have lost their homes or had to evacuate, and many who have family members or friends in the fire areas and worry daily about them.
