Celebrate Snow: Rice Creek's Winter Festival!

Name: Celebrate Snow: Rice Creek's Winter Festival!
Start: 2025-02-15T11:00:00-05:00
Location: Rice Creek Field Station

Schedule

Sat, 15 Feb, 2025 at 11:00 am

UTC-05:00

Location

Rice Creek Field Station | Oswego, NY

Rice Creek's fifth-annual Celebrate Snow Winter Festival will be held on Saturday, Feb 15, 2025. This event is free and open to all, with a severe weather date of Sunday, Feb 16.
The 2025 festival will include both indoor and outdoor activities related to snow and winter -- with fun for both kids and adults!
This event is free and open to all.
*New* Activities include:
- Cross-country skiing (adult sizes available to borrow)
- A winter mindfulness walk led by Cory Brosch, MS, LMHC
- Viewing the sun through telescopes with the Rice Creek Observatory’s Dr. Kamal Jabbour
- “How to Sink an Ice Cube” with the SUNY Oswego Chemistry Club
- Face painting
- Creating snowy paintings with watercolor and salt
- Displays of books and artifacts by Penfield Library and the University Archives
- Youth activity tables hosted by Oswego County Soil & Water Conservation District and SUNY Oswego Youth Programs

Additional Outdoor Activities
- Learn about and observe the sport of "skijoring" -- in which a person on skis is pulled by dogs! Meet local author and competitive skijorer Betsy Waterman and her dogs, and see a skijoring demonstration.
- Borrow adult- or youth-sized snowshoes (for free) and take a ramble on one of Rice Creek's trails.
- Enjoy a cozy winter-themed Story Time by the campfire with Oswego Public Library Children's Librarian Cathryn McVearry! Story Times will happen at noon and 1 pm.
- Warm up with hot cocoa and s'mores by the fire.
- Learn how to identify mammal tracks.
- Catch and examine snowflakes.
- Bring your own sled and enjoy Rice Creek's small and safe hills right near the building.

Additional Indoor Activities
- Visit the Children's Museum of Oswego's play & learn station.
- Stop by the Oswego Public Library's table for snow-themed activities.
- Create 3D snowflakes, air-dry clay animal tracks, and other creations.
- Visit outreach tables from SUNY Oswego's meteorology program, explaining the science behind our winter weather.
- Stop by the SUNY Oswego Zoology Club table run by Biological Sciences students and learn about local animals' adaptations to winter.
- Learn how to identify winter backyard birds and take a few minutes to count them for citizen science.
- Visit additional sensory & activity tables.

Parking and Accessibility
- Free parking is available by the field station and along one side of the field station's long driveway. There is a drop-off zone near the building.
- Students requiring transportation can email [email protected] at least 24 hours before the event to request a van pickup.
- The Rice Creek building, sidewalks, and pavilion are ADA-accessible. Persons with disabilities requiring additional accommodations should contact [email protected] or call 315.312.6677.

For questions about the event or how to be involved, please email [email protected] or call 315.312.6677.