On Saturday, Feb. 11, 2011, young and old alike gathered at the Cherry Hill Golf Course in Amherst for the fourth-annual Winterfest. According to Tony Maroulis, the executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, this year’s Winterfest attracted more people than any year before, with somewhere between 1,200 to 1,500 people attending this year.

Maroulis said that the snow played a big part in the attraction of Winterfest. “Last year we had no snow, we had to make our own, so it was more difficult.” This year, there were also additions to Winterfest that made the festival more enjoyable. The frontline stage, which was made out of an old Peter Pan bus, staged live bands all afternoon. Maroulis also stated that Winterfest had additional support from Amherst local radio stations.

With the more than 1,000 in attendance, many volunteers were needed. Maroulis said that there were about 100 volunteers, primarily students involved in fraternity organizations at the University of Massachusetts. The volunteers helped with everything from setting out food from the Atkins Farm County Market, organizing the chili cook-off, supervising the sledding and skiing hill, coordinating the cardboard classic, judging the family ice sculpture contest, leading the winter bird watching trek, handling the wine and chest tasting, or evaluating the Frisbee long drive contest.

The chili cook-off was one of this year’s most popular events. It was hosted inside the pro shop on the golf course and was packed with fans the entire time. Downtown Amherst’s Black Sheep Deli ending up winning the chili cook-off for the third year in a row, adding another trophy to its case.

Maroulis said that they made the competition harder this year by having a blind taste testing. Erika Hoekstra, a sophomore communications major at UMass, said that the chili cook-off was her favorite part of Winterfest. “The whole event was a lot of fun, but the best part was the chili cook-off. All of the chilies were so good; it was hard to choose a winner. I was not that surprised when I learned that I picked the Black Sheep’s chili, though.”

Winterfest also brought the Hilltown Wilderness Adventures to Cherry Hill Golf Course, who were demonstrating a sled dog mush (race). Marla BB, the professional musher, explained the art of dog racing, and talked about her experiences racing her dogs across the country. Kids gathered around the dogs to watch Marla mush around the golf course’s snow-covered hills.

Eight-year-old Oliver Young said the cardboard event was his favorite part of the day’s festivities. This is a competition where families bring materials and tools to build a sled made only out of cardboard, before racing each other and getting judged in two catagories: speed and people’s choice (which is awarded to the favorite sled). The ‘Avenger,’ which was built like a pirate ship and was the “Biggest cardboard sled we’ve had yet,” according to Maroulis, won the people’s choice award. The ‘Bud Light’ sled, which was made completely out of Budweiser boxes, ultimately was clocked as the fastest sled there. “Watching everyone make the sleds was so cool, but the race was the best! Everyone watched the sleds go down the hill and some sleds even ran into each other, that was funny!” said Young.

At 6:00 p.m., the festival ended with a firework show. People gathered after the long day in the snow to watch the show in the sky. Samantha Pettit, a junior biology major at UMass said, said she stayed just for the firework show. “It was really cold being in the snow all day, but I love fireworks so I just had to stay for the show”.

Winterfest was meant to be a day where families and students can relax and actually enjoy the snow for one day. It was intended to bring the community together for a winter celebration, according to Maroulis. “Hopefully it will get more popular as the years go,” he said.

Claire Reid Kiss can be reached at [email protected].