By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE, Maine — The fourth Winter Fun Day was another hit in Limestone, with laser tag in the snow, cross country skiing and dogsled rides.
The event brought in new faces this year, like Samantha Meserve, 18, of Limington.
As a Mainer, she’d been to winter events before — but not like this one. She took her first ride in a dog sled during the Feb. 2 event at the Limestone Community School, and enjoyed her time outside with friends. “This is actually pretty cool,” she said.
Meserve and many others enjoyed dog sled rides, courtesy of Little Machias Kennels and musher Jessica Holmes.
Holmes and the crew came all the way from Ashland to bring the sport of dog sledding to the greater Limestone community and there was a steady line of folks waiting their turn.
“I like being able to spread the word that this wonderful sport, hobby and lifestyle still continues,” she said.
Karry Flint of Portage made the trek to help out with the sled dogs, and spent time with spectators telling them about the sport and about the animals.
Events like Fun Day give every dog of the kennel a chance to get and enjoy some conditioning for the upcoming races.
“All the race dogs get to go run and the retired dogs — a lot of the time they’ll just stay on the line and greet people,” Flint said, adding that the most common question he’s asked is the names of the dogs.
Laser tag was held outside this year, and games were intense — players used the weather to their advantage, hiding in the nooks of snow banks and sliding between cover using James Bond-like moves.
David Libby of Presque Isle yelled encouragements from the sidelines while watching his son, Shawn, sneak around the field playing laser tag.
“This is awesome,” the elder Libby said. “It gives them something to do, to get outside and to get some energy out — and it’s something different.”
Getting folks together to spend time outside was the intent of the Limestone Rotarians when they founded Winter Fun Day four years ago, and the event has stayed true to its roots.
“The whole point was to get community involved,” said Rotarian Debbie Rhome. Her husband and fellow-Rotarian Cliff Rhome agreed that Winter Fun Day has been a success.
“I think the two keys for it being the way that it is are (former Director of the Limestone Recreation Department) Amanda Brooker and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics,” he said.
Assistant Director of Residential Life at MSSM Cindi Trapnell has been helping oversee Winter Fun Day for three years, and she noticed that the Clam Bake was also a pretty big hit this year.
Trapnell commented that dog sledding and laser tag are usually the most frequented events, but this year cross country skiing was pretty popular as well.
“On behalf of MSSM, we want to thank everyone who participated in Winter Fun Day,” Trapnell added.
