GENEVA – Winterfest is supposed to be a way for the people of Geneva to escape the weather and come together for a fun day.
Ironically, it was that same weather that forced Geneva Recreation Director Myke Dowd, the Geneva Business Association and the City of Geneva to alter some of the activities associated with the event.
“It’s actually been really rewarding, because seeing people out, even though there’s not tons, there’s still people out there doing what we wanted,” Dowd said. “We wanted them to come out, get rid of the blues, enjoy some sunshine, see people they haven’t seen in a couple weeks, couple months, and just enjoy an afternoon out doing something that they normally wouldn’t do. Winter is so, so hard mentally, because you’re stuck inside, you’re limited as to what you can do. Days like this just make it nice because, again, you come out and you can live a little bit.”
Dowd was happy to see a large number of attendees at the event, which was held in the Geneva Recreation Center, VFW, Geneva Community Center and in the parking lot on Depot Street on Saturday, Feb. 7.
“Every site has got people in it, the horse and carriage, I was talking to them, and they said that they’ve done a number of trips around with full cars, so that means people are still outside in the cold doing that wonderful thing,” Dowd said. “Here at the Community Center, we’ve got a lot of people listening to the Madison Jazz Project, Jungle Terry will be here, and it’ll be wall to wall with people. I’m very pleased with everything. Again, with the weather, you never know what you’re going to get for Winterfest, so what we get is what we get and smiling little ones is all that matters.”
Winterfest activities, which kicked off Fire and Ice on Friday, Feb. 6, included a pancake breakfast at First United Methodist Church, a craft show, a vintage snowmobile show, the Geneva Area Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook Off at the VFW, a parade, a welcome ceremony featuring the Winterfest queens, performances by the Geneva Jazz Band and Madison Jazz Project, a presentation by Jungle Terry, soup at United Church, a candy crawl featuring downtown businesses, hot dogs from Park Street Church, and information tables hosted by a number of local nonprofits.
“It’s about providing something for them to do, enjoy, and just come together,” Dowd said. “Geneva is a unique community in the sense that they’re always helping each other out. Sometimes you don’t get to see each other because you’re just so busy and events like this make it possible.”
Winterfest was hosted despite frigid temperatures.
“You never know with Winterfest,” Dowd said. “We’ve had it where it’s 50 degrees, and we’ve had it when it’s sub-zero, like this year. You hope that people come out. You hope that they enjoy themselves, they dress warm. The whole point is just to get out, enjoy the sun, enjoy the people and if you’re a little cold, that means you’re still alive.”
Those low temperatures forced organizers to keep parade participants inside cars rather than on trailers and in truck beds.
“What we did this year was definitely different,” Dowd said. “It was supposed to be in the negative 20s during the parade, so we called last night and said, ‘Listen, if we’re going to do the parade, everyone’s got to be inside a car.’ It was just safety issues. We didn’t want people getting frostbit or sick or falling on the ice. Anything could happen, so we figured this was a safe avenue to still have a parade. They still had their windows open. They were still waving at people. It was a little unconventional, but we still made it happen.”
Dowd was grateful for the individuals and organizations that made Winterfest possible.
“On Friday night, we had our Fire and Ice,” Dowd said. “All of our sponsors, I’d love to thank all of them. There was eight of them. The (Geneva Area Chamber of Commerce) did the chili cook off. We have all of our nonprofits here. I don’t even know where to begin. There’s so many sponsors, I would just say thanks to all the sponsors, because I could go on forever, and I know I’d miss somebody, then I’d feel horrible.”
Dowd did want to make sure she thanked a few specific groups.
“I’ve got the guys here at the community center that set up and they’re going to clean up,” Dowd said. “I have the fire department, the police department, the street department. The list goes on and on.”
