Residents in Cooperstown are planning on reelin' in a fun and eventful weekend.

Cooperstown will hold its 39th annual Winter Carnival this weekend, Feb 11, 12 and 13. The festive weekend, whose theme is "Reelin in the Years," will include a parade with lights and fireworks, themes from past decades and live shows at local businesses.

"Now that the snow has finally come, people are getting very excited about this year's carnival," said Yvette Feik, co-chairperson for the event. "Our theme is 'Reelin' in the Years.' Friday night will be awesome and will start out with a bang, literally. We wanted to make this year's carnival thrilling from beginning to end so we're starting the celebration with a 'Parade of Lights' down Main Street, ending with fireworks at the lakefront."

This year's highlights will include a "Parade of Lights," a fireworks display and a "Dysfunctional Feud Tournament" at the Peppermill Restaurant, said event co-chairperson, Teresa DeLaurentis.

The "Parade of Lights" will kick off the weekend at 6 p.m. and will include sixteen illuminated floats and sixteen marching groups. Groups who will be entering the parade this year include the "Support our Troops" group, The Winter Carnival king and queen and their royal court, cub scouts, area fire departments and CROP.

"We're hoping for a really good turnout," said carnival committee member Jim Hogan, who has been preparing for the parade.

Hogan said the parade will feature the carnival's king and a queen, two area teens who have been nominated by community members to appear in the parade based on their upstanding presence in the community. Coronation of the 2005 king and queen will take place at Sal's Pizzeria on Main Street at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Nominees for queen include Katy Snell, Lindsay Rowley, Traci Webb and Jess Root. Nominees for king include David Pikarsky, Eric Bliss, Joseph Powers and Jacob Smith.

The parade is also based on the "Reelin' in the Years" theme. Parade entrants will pick their favorite decade and design a float after it. The parade will be judged and prizes will be awarded.

The parade will end at Lakefront Park, where there will be a fireworks display .

The "Dysfunctional Feud Tournament" is another new addition to the Winter Carnival this year. The game show tournament will consist of four teams of six players battling for prize money by testing their knowledge of Cooperstown culture.

The tournament will be held at the Peppermill Restaurant at 8 p.m. Door prizes will be awarded to those who wear the best 60s or 70s outfit.

"We have many other family events, too," DeLaurentis said.

She said the Chocolate Lovers' Festival is always very popular, as is the snow sculpture contest.

"We hope to have the entire community come out and enjoy the many events that we have planned as a fun break from the cold and snowy winter," DeLaurentis said.

For more information or to get involved with an event, contact Yvette Feik at 547-5174 or Teresa DeLaurentis at 263-5027. More information about the carnival, including a complete schedule of events, can be found on pages 8 and 9 and also online at www.cooperstown-carnival.org.