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This past weekend February 18th – 21st, Wellsboro enjoyed its second annual Wellsboro Winter Celebration. Featuring a chili cook off, as well as horseback riding and ice sculpting, this is not an event to miss. Craftsman Gary Hilfiger of Troy, PA made an appearance, lending eleven-some years of wood carving experience to the days’ attractions by demonstrating chainsaw carving. Jeff Meyers, an ice carver from Elegant Ice Creations Inc., also exhibited his talents by producing sculptures from 300lb blocks of ice.

David Russell, who also attended last year’s celebration, comments, “We just happened to stumble upon it…so here we are. We heard it was [going to] be an annual thing and we scheduled our vacation around the Winter Fest.” His wife Sharon adds, “We have such a good time. People in Wellsboro are friendly, it’s low key, and we love it. We love it here.”

While the weather was strangely unconducive to cross country skiing and snowshoeing on the Green (with a high of 63°F), Frisbee golf was substituted for these activities with good success. The Wellsboro Riding Club provided another exciting activity by offering pony rides to all comers. The Fifth Season even presented a Great Snowball Hunt with 101 snowballs hidden around Downtown Wellsboro, each worth a prize.

Events which took place beyond downtown include the Waste Management Winter Rally and the Mt. Tom Challenge. Rally drivers contended with both ice and mud on the track in Antrim. Likewise, those who took the Mt. Tom Challenge, scaling 1,100 vertical feet of trail from the Ansonia Valley to the summit vista of Mount Tom, persevered through similar conditions on foot.

If you missed this year’s festival, be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s Wellsboro Winter Celebration the weekend of February 18th. We’ll see you there.