Willow ready for annual winter celebration

WASILLA — The 55th edition of the Willow State Winter Carnival is set to begin Friday and will kick off two weekends of Alaska-style fun in and around the Willow Community Center at Mile 69 of the Parks Highway. Events are planned Jan. 29-31 and Feb. 5-7.

Along with crowd favorites like the Talent or Not Show, outhouse races, homesteader events and vintage snowmachines, the 2016 event will feature carnival rides presented by A-1 Midway from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

“We are looking forward to it,” A-1 Midway president Michael Mills said Tuesday. “We plan on having three big rides — a Ferris wheel, the Super Sizzler and the big slide. Plus, we will have quite a few carnival games.”

The carnival also will host a variety of local vendors, including local artists and homemade food. Run by the Willow Area Community Organization, or WACO, proceeds from the event go to fund local services, like the maintenance of some 100 miles of trail in the West Gateway system.

According to carnival committee member Brenda McCain, the weather forecast is looking promising.

“The snow is great this year — we have plenty — and we are expecting temperatures in the 20s,” McCain said. “It’s looking perfect.”

This year’s theme is the “Year of the Sandhill Crane.”

“We get quite a few cranes in Willow in the summer,” McCain said. “And the theme has made for a fabulous t-shirt design.”

Admission is free and there is a $1 parking fee, but McCain added each person gets a raffle ticket when they park.

“It’s a smaller raffle with items usually donated by local vendors,” she said. “Those drawings will run every half hour.”

Things get started Friday evening at 5 p.m. with the annual Quick Draw Fundraiser Art Auction and dinner.

Dinner tickets are $12 and can be purchased in Willow at Newman’s Hilltop Tesoro, Roni’s Chinook Deli and the Willow Public Library. No tickets will be sold at the door.

After the dinner, the annual Gold Pan Awards will be presented to deserving community members and mushers competing in the Earl Norris Open Class Sled Dog Sprint Race will draw bib numbers.

The evening will be capped off with an 8 p.m. fireworks show presented by Gorilla Fireworks and Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. both weekends, with both the carnival kitchen and the WACO booth open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Each Saturday and Sunday also starts off with an 8 a.m. pancake breakfast sponsored by the Willow PTA. Bingo nights are planned for 7 p.m. Feb. 5 and 6.

McCain said the 2016 music and performer lineup was a diverse listing.

“We have everything from bagpipes to belly dancers,” she said. “And there are some great school (music) groups scheduled.”

Saturday, Jan. 30, events include the Earl Norris sled dog races at 10 a.m., the Frostbite 5-kilometer run at 11 a.m., a dog weight pull at noon, the popular outhouse races at 1 p.m. and a kids’ sled dog race at 1:30 p.m.

The Earl Norris Open Class Sled Dog Sprint Race highlights the Sunday morning events at 10 a.m., followed by a 5-kilometer ski race at 11 a.m. The annual snowshoe softball game begins at 1 p.m., while a 5K skijor race is planned for 2 p.m.

Feb. 6 events include vintage snowmachine races from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., a cribbage tournament at 1:30 p.m. and a telephone toss and texting competition at 3 p.m. The popular Talent or Not Show starts at 7 p.m.

McCain said parking that weekend might get crowded, and asked that those with snowmachine trailers use the Willow Elementary School parking lot or a designated area along the Parks Highway.

The Feb. 7 schedule kicks off with the Sven Eriksson 25k tour at 10:30 a.m., where participants can choose to ski, bike or run. The worst Carhartts and best beard contests start at noon and the weekend’s homesteader events wrap up at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, visit the WACO site at waco-ak.org/carnival

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com