As the snow turns to mush amid rising temperatures this weekend, another longtime feature of Southland winters has disappeared as well.
Musher Mania, a seasonal mainstay offered annually by the Forest Preserve District of Will County at Monee Reservoir, is gone.
But the Siberian husky dogs that were the centerpiece of that event will figuratively pull their sleds to Beecher this weekend for a new event Forest Preserve officials hope people will warm up to.
“After 30 years of doing something, you may want to change it up a bit,” said Angie Opiola, an interpretive naturalist with the district.
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The World Snow Day Festival premiers from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Plum Creek Nature Center in Goodenow Grove Forest Preserve with a range of free winter-oriented outdoor and indoor activities targeting all ages and interests.
Opiola said the demise of Musher Mania wasn’t due to a lack of popularity. In fact, she said it consistently drew a loyal enthusiastic crowd, estimating 1,000 to 2,500 attendees, with a core group of 600 showing up “in the nastiest conditions.”
Rather, the Snow Day Festival marks the district’s rebranding of Plum Creek Nature Center as its “winter hub, according to a release. Services such as snowshoe rentals that once could be had in Monee have also been shifted to the Beecher facility. The visitor center at Monee Reservoir has been closed for the winter through Feb. 28, though the 248-acre preserve there remains open from 8 a.m. to sunset.
With the move of the services, Opiola said it didn’t make much sense to hold an event where nothing else was going on.
“Why invite somebody to a closed facility,” she said.
Plus, Goodenow Grove has a 40-foot sledding hill.
“We kept the best of Musher Mania and added it to the best that Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve has to offer in winter,” said Diane Carson, facility supervisor at the 891-acre preserve.
Besides sledding, outdoor attractions at Snow Day include the Siberian Husky Club of Greater Chicago’s sled dog teams as well as a live ice sculpting presentation. there will be opportunities to make s’mores around an outdoor bonfire, and rental fees for sledding tubes and snowshoes will be waived for the day.
Attractions inside the heated Plum Creek Nature Center include the Great Race to Nome, brought to life through activities and an exhibit that includes information on great mushers through history. Interactive exhibits include an igloo made out of gallon jugs that is large enough to accommodate small children. Staff will also screen the Disney film “Snow Buddies.”
Boy Scout Troops 100 and 123 from Steger and Crete, respectively, will be selling popcorn, apple fritters and hot drinks.
Opiola said in re-imagining the event, staff members attempted to capture the nostalgia of “the one magical snowfall day” in Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story.”
But even if rising temperatures melt the snow, the event still will “have something for everybody — ice bowling, a techie scavenger hunt, or maybe you just want to be outside in nature,” she said.
Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve is at 27064 Dutton Road in Beecher. More information on the preserve or the Snow Day Festival is at 708-946-2216 or reconnectwithnature.org.