NEWPORT CITY – It might not have been the Olympics, but you wouldn’t have known it from the cheers, laughter, and smiles of those gathered in Newport City for the annual Winter Festival on Saturday. The fun included a snow sculpture contest, the Coulter Pond Hockey Tournament, the Frost and Furious Softball Tournament, a scavenger hunt, winter games and snacks in the Newport City Municipal Gym, a winter snowshoe tour at Bluff Side Farm, and a Cardboard Sledding Competition at Prouty Beach that included about a dozen teams.
“It’s a big citywide celebration of winter,” Mike Brown, director of the City of Newport Parks and Recreation Department, said. “We try to have an activity for every age group.”
Talking about the cardboard sledding competition, Brown explained that participants designed and built a cardboard sled that they then raced downhill. Categories included the fastest, the “best dressed” which meant the best looking sled design, and the most spirited. They had 15 teams, including ten and under group, 11-17 age group, and a family division. However, no families signed up to race. The winners each received a $25 gift card to the Pick and Shovel.
The ONE Prevention Coalition sponsored the activities and games in the Newport City Municipal Gym. Coordinator for the ONE Prevention Coalition, Vaunne Masse, said they invited all community partners that were willing to attend and provide a craft or a game.
