CAZENOVIA — Last weekend, Cazenovia area residents came together to celebrate the community’s annual Winter Festival.
Held this year from Friday, Feb. 10 through Sunday, Feb. 12, Winter Fest has been a local tradition for over 50 years.
According to Mayor Kurt Wheeler, the festival dates to the early 1970s and was organized annually by a special community committee until the early 2000s.
“When that committee faded out, [Project Café] took over the overall coordination duties,” said Wheeler.
Project Café is a student-directed non-profit organization aimed at promoting drug- and alcohol-free activities, music, art, community service, and scholarship in the Cazenovia area.
In preparation for Winter Fest, Project Café’s student leaders reached out to all the participating groups to remind them of the dates and assemble a master list of scheduled events to share with media outlets. They also sponsor the annual Winter Fest Talent Show and Opening Ceremony in the Cazenovia High School Auditorium.
At this year’s talent show, Selene DeVoye won the “People’s Choice” award — selected by the audience via an “applause meter” — with her vocal performance of “Human.”
Ethan Coburn won the judge’s award for “Best Act” with his acoustic guitar and vocal performance of “Just Breathe.”
The judges were 2022 King and Queen Ben and Christina New and 2023 King and Queen Jack and Kaleen Sessler. The emcees were high school students JP Hoak and Maren Smith.
According to Wheeler, the talent show raised over $500 to support student scholarships for community service.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s Disney-themed Scholastic Snow Sculpture Competition was canceled due to heavy rain and warm temperatures leading up to the event.
On Saturday afternoon, the Scholastic Winter Olympics were moved indoors from the Cazenovia High School Track.
Students in grades 8-12 faced off in volleyball, pickleball, Spikeball, and bottle flip competitions.
“The seniors narrowly defeated the juniors for the overall [Winter Fest] Olympics title,” said Wheeler, who teaches history and government at the high school and is the advisor to the Project Café student leaders. “The seniors also won the daily themed dress-up days to capture the overall [Winter Fest] crown.”
Leading up to Winter Fest weekend, students were encouraged to attend classes dressed up for the following daily Disney themes: “Monsters University Monday,” Disney Tourist Tuesday,” “Hero vs. Villain,” “Donald Duck Day,” and “Frozen Friday.”
Additional events on the 2023 Winter Fest schedule — some of which were impacted by unfavorable weather conditions — were outdoor activities at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and Meier’s Creek Brewing Co., family ice skating at Burton Street Ice Skating Rink, a pancake breakfast at the American Legion Post 88 Home, downhill skiing at Cazenovia Ski Club, a Valentine’s Day Family Tea at the Cazenovia Public Library, a “horses and hot chocolate” event at the Lorenzo State Historic Site, and a group snowshoe on the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation trails.
To learn more about Project Café, visit sites.google.com/caz.cnyric.org/projectcafe/home.
