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2-14-2007 By MICHELLE MILLER Staff Writer Borgstrom said the snow came a little too late, falling later in the day Sunday, putting a damper on a few carnival events. Borgstrom said she was happy the popular Lakefront Park sled races were able to go on, but the snowman- making and the snow sculpture contests had to be canceled because there was not enough snow. "The sled races were actually very pleasant," said Borgstrom. "We were able to get them in before it really got cold and before that big whiteout." Borgstrom said the food contests and indoor activities were particularly popular this year. She said she believes people saw these events as a good way to get out of the cold. The Winter Carnival, themed "Shiver Me Timbers," combined the usual favorite activities with new and exciting events for children and adults of all ages. New to this year's event was "The Monsters of Templeton" book signing and party. Lauren Groff returned to her hometown to promote her first novel, "The Monsters of Templeton," which is a fictional piece about Cooperstown that has received rave reviews from the likes of Stephen King. "I was so thrilled by the signing and the party," said Groff, who said she received a warm welcome home. "I think it went swimmingly." Groff said she was "enormously grateful" people came out on a dark, cold night to celebrate the launch of "The Monsters of Templeton." She also said she was able to reconnect and see some of her best friends from high school. "Overall, I could never have asked for a better night," said Groff. Groff said even though her novel has not been out for very long, there were a number of people who had read it in one or two gulps and said they really liked it. Groff said she was unsure if holding the book signing during the Winter Carnival attracted more people or not. She said she mostly saw people she knew, and there were some Cooperstown visitors who saw the event written up in the window at Augur's and decided to buy a copy on the spot. The book signing was held at Augur's bookstore from 5 to 6:30 p.m. "The Monsters of Templeton" party was held at Templeton Hall from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and Groff said it went "beautifully." "Templeton Hall is always elegant and the food is always beautiful in Lucy Townsend's hands, and it seemed that the perfect number of people stopped by over the course of the evening," said Groff. During this year's Winter Carnival, Groff said she was only able to make it to the firework display because she was only home for a short time. However, she said she has gone to carnival festivities in the past and remembers the chocolate fest with great affection. "It was the high point between Christmas cookies and Easter candy," said Groff. Groff also said she loves seeing the snow sculptures and missed seeing them this year. She said usually there is much more snow. The popular Winter Carnival parade did not kick off this year's Winter Carnival activities. Instead, the committee decided to hold The "Parade of Pirates" at 10 a.m. Saturday. This year's parade winner was Brookwood School. Willy's Farm and Cider Mill placed second, and the Hartwick Fire Company No. 2 placed third. Last year's festivities included a hot dog eating contest. However, this year the hot dogs were replaced with chocolate cream pies. The winners of the contest were Evan Johnson and Chelsea Moakler. This was Johnson's second year winning, as he was named king of the hot dog competition last year when he ate six hot dogs in three minutes. Johnson needed lots of water to help him get the pie down, but he took away first place honors once again. Mike Desimone was the winner of this year's medallion hunt. Desimone said he jumped for joy when he found the medallion in a snow bank at the bottom of Pioneer Street Thursday, Feb. 7. He said the snow bank was practically all ice, and he actually broke the medallion while digging for it. Desimone was given his $500 reward on his birthday during the Winter Carnival closer Sunday evening. Phil Pohl was selected as this year's Winter Carnival king and Laura Resnick was selected queen. The royal court included Mike Croft, Tom Hogan, Chris Hogan, Kristen Busse, Lilly Tillapaugh and Jenny Potrikus. During the Winter Carnival closer, held at Hoffman Lane Bistro Sunday evening, awards were given out and raffle tickets were drawn. There was a slide show presentation of weekend highlights planned, but it was not presented because of a problem with the projector. Photos will be posted on the Winter Carnival website cooperstowncarnival.org. A full list of awards will be posted on the website as well. As acting co-chair, Borgstrom said she had a lot of fun putting this year's Winter Carnival together and thanked the committee for all their hard work. She also thanked everyone for their involvement. Co-chair Teri Barown said there was a great bunch of people and businesses that sponsored this year's event, which she said went extremely well. |
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