TOWN OF MANLIUS – With some welcome snow cover to coincide with the festivities, Green Lakes State Park welcomed in people of all ages Jan. 21 for its annual Frosty Forest.
The wintry Saturday afternoon event from 1 to 4 p.m. was co-sponsored by Fayetteville Recreation, Town of Manlius Recreation, Village of Manlius Parks and Recreation, the Village of Minoa and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
In lieu of an admission charge, the organizers encouraged attendees to bring non-perishable food items to benefit the Food Bank of Central New York. In that sense, Frosty Forest has followed the same donation setup as the yearly Halloween-themed draw known as Wicked Woods, which most recently took place on Oct. 22 as a drive-thru with spooky roadside displays put up by Green Lakes campers.
Town of Manlius Recreation Director Peggy Kenyon said she was “thrilled” that there was snow on the ground for the open-to-the-public Frosty Forest event after the lack of snow accumulation in the area these past several weeks.
“It’s obviously prettier with the snow,” Kenyon said. “We’re glad it wasn’t raining too because we did have a year where it poured rain the whole time.”
Because it was not quite the amount of snowfall expected, however, the snow-building contest was canceled this time around, but people were still able to try out snowshoeing and pose with ice sculpture demonstrations by the park’s beach.
The event also featured a bonfire to gather around, crafts inside the old administration building, and a taco truck for anyone who wanted grub.
All afternoon horse-drawn wagon rides were leaving from Tulip Hill and making a loop at the Lake View parking lot.
As the owner of Kindred Moon Kennel, musher and dog breeder Jo Lynn Stresing was at the park showing off a small team of Siberian Huskies for people to meet and play with. Stresing, a resident of Camden, said her appearance there gave her a chance to educate passersby about American Kennel Club events and how the dogs are as pets.
For Frosty Forest, any car that brought a non-perishable received a raffle ticket to go into a drawing for a Green Lakes Empire Pass, which allows for unlimited day-use entry all season.
Lynn Hy, the chief development officer for the Food Bank of Central New York, said she appreciates the invitations extended to the nonprofit to be the beneficiary for both Wicked Woods and Frosty Forest. She also thanked everybody who has shown up and donated either food items or monetary donations for community members facing hunger.
“Every day families are facing hunger and faced with bare cupboards, so this helps us keep those cupboards having nutritious food in them,” Hy said.
The more donations the Food Bank of Central New York receives, the greater the variety of food products it can offer, she said. The dollars also help the organization purchase the food they need to have in stock, keep delivery trucks on the road, and pay drivers and warehouse personnel.
Hy said a total of 1,600 pounds of food were collected with the Wicked Woods event this past October and that the Food Bank of Central New York and its network of local food pantries see an increase in support during the November-December season of giving.