With the holidays over and grass still showing, part of me wishes I were more upset. I remember plenty of Christmases growing up when I was legitimately saddened when there was a chance of a green Christmas, but this year, I considered the lack of snow a gift in and of itself.

Frankly, after last winter, I’m sure several people share my desire to skip winter altogether.

Unfortunately, winter is part of the package we sign up for when we choose to be Michiganders, and to we warm-weather lovers’ dismay, the freezing temperatures, mountains of snow and icy roads will soon be upon us.

Rather than grumble through the inevitable and unavoidable winter months, I plan to take advantage of some of the opportunities I may have taken for granted in the past. As the first heavy snowfall of 2015 covers Michiana, keep in mind that these opportunities are right in our backyards:

• Ice festivals galore — Over the past several years, ice festivals have popped up all over southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. My favorite event each winter is the Hunter Ice Festival in Niles, which begins Jan. 16. In addition to the beautiful hand-crafted ice sculptures, thousands of guests travel to the city each year to watch ice fights, participate in the chili crawl and try some Hunter ice cream, among other opportunities.

Other ice festivals have their own unique attractions at various weekends in the winter. More than 20,000 pounds of ice will be carved into sculptures at Dowagiac’s Ice Time Festival Feb. 7, but guests can also see live wood carvings, compete in an ice cream eating contest and more.

St. Joseph also hosts the Magical Ice Time Festival Feb. 6 and 7, including ice wars and scavenger hunts. The Fire and Ice Festival takes over Goshen Jan. 3, and Shipshewana already hosted its annual festival.

Sculptures from all festivals remain installed until they melt, leaving beautiful artwork in our communities for weeks (sometimes months) after the festivals end.

• Ice-skating — I’ve never been much of an athlete, so there’s something intriguing about participating in an activity in which it is perfectly normal to fall down several times. Plenty of places in Michiana offer ice-skating, including Howard Park and the Ice Box in South Bend, which have both been in operation for decades.

Weather permitting, southwest Michiganders will soon be able to skate closer to home at the Niles rink on North Front Street, as volunteers are hard at work preparing the rink. Skaters can bring their own skates or borrow from the warming center for free. The opportunity is brought to the community completely by volunteers, and more people should take advantage of it.

• Sledding and skiing — When I was growing up, it seemed everyone had their own secret place where they went sledding. Just as adults have their favorite dive bars and coffee shops to wind down in with friends, children seem to have their favorite hill to sled down at the nearest park, playground or backyard. There are way too many places to list, but parks offering sledding and skiing in our area can be found at berriencountyparks.org or casscountymi.org/parks.

For people of all ages who really enjoy tubing, Thrill on the Hill returns to Buchanan Jan. 30 and 31.The fourth annual event allows guests to glide through downtown, starting on an iced down ramp designed to increase speed and provide sledders with an experience different from normal tubing. From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., adults can take advantage of the Midnight Run, an opportunity for those over 18 to have fun while the kids are in bed.

The list of winter activities in southwest Michigan goes on and on, and regardless of your feelings on winter, I hope you will join me in taking advantage of as many as possible.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com