The Rangeley Skating Club and the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce that the 4th Annual Rangeley Winterpaloozah!, a fun-filled celebration of winter activities and competitions for the entire family, was a huge success. The event took place on Sunday, February 17th, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM at Haley Pond and Rangeley Town Park.

The Skating Club and the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce teamed up again this year to host the event, which included all the favorites from past years – skating, curling, pond hockey, fat tire bikes, snowshoes, kick sleds, horse & cart rides, marshmallow roast, snow golf, snow kite, snow castle and, new this year, saucer bowling – All FREE!  There was also a slate of fun, pay-to-enter competitions for the entire family, with prizes awarded to winners in each competition. Competitions included: Paloozathon Race, Dog Keg Pull, Cardboard Sled Race, Firewood Toss, Fat Tire Bike Race and the Paloozah Carry (a variation on the popular wife-carry event).

Winners of the competitions were:

Paloozathon Race

Men – Jeff Berman

Women – Katie Pye

Dog Keg Pull

Small Dogs – Chris and Celine Kuhn with “Brady” 

Chris and Celine Kuhn with winner in small dog category “Brady”. Using treats to entice definitely worked!

Medium Dogs – Nancy & Gary Perlson with “Scout”

Nancy Perlson with the fast as lightning and hands down or “paws” down winner in the medium category, “Scout”.

Large Dogs – Echo McDonough with “Lulu”

Echo McDonough seen here with winner in the large dog category, the lovely and fast “Lulu”

Cardboard Sled (Best Design) – Hunter White

Cardboard Sled (Race) – Geoffrey Chase

Firewood Toss

Men – Ben Samson

Women – Maureen Clancy

Youth – Luke Gagne

Fat Tire Bike Race

Amy Hediger

Paloozah Carry

Zac Lounsbury & Mia Schulett

Paloozah Carry winners Zac Lounsbury & Mia Schulett

This year, agents from the Rangeley Border Patrol station were on hand to meet with participants, take photos and answer questions.  Border Patrol Agent Anthony Atkinson stated “The Rangeley Border Patrol Station would like to thank everyone who attended the 4th Annual Winterpaloozah. 

Border Patrol agent Anthony Atkinson seen here enjoying getting to know members of the community.

We had a great time meeting everyone, taking pictures, and answering questions. We look forward to seeing everyone at many more of the upcoming events within Rangeley and the surrounding communities.”  Also joining the event and meeting with event participants were members and equipment from Rangeley Fire & Rescue.

Event co-organizer Karen A. Ogulnick, representing the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce noted “A tremendous amount of planning goes into organizing an event with so many activities. The successful results reflect the hard word of a small, but highly dedicated group of people. The satisfaction is in seeing all of the people coming out and enjoying the day with friends and family.”  Linda Dexter, event co-organizer representing the Rangeley Skating Club, stated “Rangeley is a fabulous area for winter play. Haley Pond was covered with people having fun, a great sight to see. With the mountains as a backdrop, it looks like a scene out of vintage paintings”.”

The organizers were very pleased with the turnout and expressed their appreciation for all the event sponsors and the volunteers who worked so hard to organize the event – and are already looking forward to planning next year’s 5th Annual Rangeley Winterpaloozah.

Want to see more photos? Check out The Rangeley Highlander Facebook page!

Horse and cart rides throughout the day were a pleasant change of pace and great photo op with both kids and adults. Stephanie Chu-O’Neil

Fat tire bike riding is becoming every more popular thanks to AJ Bikes.

My new favorite event and just one of the many free and fun activities- Saucer Bowling!

Curling is fun for the whole family. Who doesn’t like to slide on the ice?