Willow Winter Carnival

WILLOW — In the year of the Rainbow Trout, the community of Willow comes together to celebrate the Willow Winter Carnival Jan 26 through 28, and again Feb 1-3.

The two-weekend event kicked off Friday night. Christine Stitt and a horde of volunteers served roast beef with homemade fixings for the kickoff dinner. Fireworks shot into the sky and exploded as a signal for the start of the party. Before the smoke had cleared, riders to the event hopped on their snowmachines and took off to the lake. Those left began the cleanup process inside the community center where Stitt was supervising the chaos. The weekend is a main fundraiser for Willow elementary and the city of Willow, and would not be possible without the hundreds of volunteer hours poured in by the community, for the community.

"It is a lot of work. I have been doing it for a couple of years but most have been doing it for a long time. Hopefully the community's going to pick themselves up and newbies like myself will jump in," said Stitt. "People arrived first thing at 8 this morning and started setting up tables, getting them all prettied up. All the kids drew a rainbow trout and they were the centerpieces for the tables. They started at 8, and they won't finish until probably 10, or 11 at night... Oh we're all having fun," said Stitt.

In it's 57th year, the Willow Winter Carnival offers an excuse to get outside during the long, cold Alaskan winters. Family friendly events like snowshoe softball, 5k ski races on the lake go with the Earl Norris Sled Dog race series. A vintage snowmachine show will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 3rd at the Willow Community Center. Musicians like Ziggy and Friends, the Teeland Middle School Jazz Band, and the 9th Army Band jazz combo will take the stage to provide entertainment.

One of the first orders of business was crowning a Willow Winter Carnival King and Queen. Mark Merrill was crowned King and and Dagmar Hess, Queen, on Friday night. Hess, a 30-year Willow resident, will offer her hand at an ax throw during the opening weekend as part of the Homesteader events. Hess claims she will wear her crown and sash whilst throwing the ax.

The PTA Pancake Breakfast at Willow Elementary is one of the main fundraisers for the 5th grade class every year. Pancakes will be served from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. both Saturday's and Sundays. The pancakes are the only event offered on Sunday, as the Carnival hopes not to have to compete with the big game.

"Saturday goes to the dogs, Sunday goes to the machines," said Stitt, who is partial to the Sled Dog races. She organizes the Willow 300 that begins at the end of the Carnival.

Most of the events are outdoors, celebrating the Alaskan winter rather than hiding from it. Sled dog races, fat tire bike races and XC ski races are all held at the Willow Winter Carnival. There are no snowmachine races scheduled, but impromptu displays of speed are likely to occur as a large portion of the attendees arrive via snowmachine.

"When it's a long cold winter and it's dark you've still got to get outside and do things. The money that we raised goes to maintaining the building and also doing events like a 4th of July parade and community BBQ community dinner at the beginning of December. When you're part of a small community, you need to get out and socialize a little bit," said Carrie Smoldon, one of the event organizers.

Smoldon has only lived in the small town of 2,000 for a few years, but she's already eager to get more volunteers for the carnival and showcase the town's unique Winter atmosphere.

"People can experience those things that make Winter in Alaska so awesome," said Smoldon.