This Family Day weekend, Clinton will host a series of community events.
The Clinton Snow Jockey Club will hold its annual Cross Country Ski Fun Day on Feb. 18, followed by the Clinton and District Outdoor Sportsmen Association’s Ice Fishing Derby on Feb. 19. The events are being organized by groups of community volunteers led by Roland Higginbottom, the president of both clubs. He said it’s the first time in three years the events have been held.
“I’ve been doing this for quite a few years, both these events, and I do it for the village. It helps keep people busy,” Higginbottom said. “They’re free events with free concessions, that’s about all we can do. If they come, they come.”
The Cross Country Ski Fun Day will be held at the Big Bar Ski Trails starting at 10 a.m. Higginbottom said the village has donated prizes, which will be given out to participants. There are 25 km of groomed trails for the community to ski or snowshoe on as they like.
“It will be some kind of event no matter what the weather,” Higginbottom said. “We’ve got some nice trails and it can be pretty good depending on what the weather is. These last few years it’s been getting warm on us so we’ve been losing our trails early, so hopefully we get the skiing in.”
The next day Higginbottom said he’ll be out at Beaver Dam Lake organizing the ice fishing derby. The derby begins the moment the sun rises and lasts until noon, which he said is typically long enough.
Higginbottom said the event attracts about 45 participants who all contribute $10 to the prize pot. At the end of the day, the money is split three ways among the winners and prizes including hats and fishing rods are given out to those who catch the first fish and the smallest fish.
“It will be good, there should be lots of ice even though we’ve had some pretty mild weather lately. Beaver Dam is a little higher than Clinton so there’s plenty of ice there,” Higginbottom said. “I know a few guys who have already been fishing there and they’re catching some pretty nice two-pound brook trout.”
The Village of Clinton is also offering free public skating for the community to enjoy from Feb. 15-19.
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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