Hawley Winterfest offers town some holiday spirit
HAWLEY - Downtown streets and shops were busy Saturday as families browsed art displays, made crafts and rode in a horse-drawn carriage to celebrate the winter season.
The annual Hawley Winterfest features music, children's theater performances and a generally festive mood in a quaint town setting that draws revelers from throughout the region.
At the Hawley Public Library, sisters Margo and Noelle DePatie, both 12, and their friend Maria Drake, 12, pushed the limits of their craft assignment to make snowmen out of marshmallows, gum drops, nonpareils and pretzel sticks.
Margo made a red-nosed Rudolph after her attempt at a penguin turned out to look more like a reindeer head, she said. Noelle made two polar bears sleigh-riding over a sea of blue icing. And Maria made a perfectly proportioned snowman sheltered behind a pretzel fence in the middle of a snowball fight.
"The head of a snowman is always smaller," she said, "so I bit half off."
The closest to a real snowball fight on the snowless Saturday happened on the library lawn, where ice carver Mark Crouthamel of Sculpted Ice Works tossed ice shavings at an audience member.
Sheila Smith and her granddaughters Tatyana and Jalissa Ocasio watched as he stacked blocks of ice, sealed them together with water and gradually transformed them into a galloping reindeer.
"I love this area," she said. "We come any chance we get if there's something going on."
At Main Avenue and Church Street, the owner and excursion director of Honesdale-based Northeast Wilderness Experience and Sawmill Cycles were displaying bikes as well as snow-based gear, given the weather.
"It's a nice event every year," owner Dan Corrigan said.
Excursion director Paul Mang made a pitch for the snowshoes arrayed on a table.
"This is a great family sport," he said. "If you can walk, you can snowshoe."
The winterfest continues with events and performances all day today.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com