The Highlands Chamber of Commerce’s new festival, Snow Fest, is right around the corner.
Chamber of commerce executive director Kaye McHan gave an update on the festival at the town board of commissioner’s recent board meeting.
McHan said last week, she and several town employees met with the company responsible for the snow blowing in Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park to assess the grounds.
“We met with Snow Magic and talked through everything and answered everybody’s questions,” McHan said. “Everybody seemed satisfied with what is going to happen.”
In Sept., when McHan first brought the idea to the board, commissioner John Dotson questioned if the snow blower would make too much noise.
“There will be only one snow blowing machine,” McHan said. “The noise level for that, from about 10 to 20 feet, is 70 decibels. The Snow Magic team will come on Thursday afternoon on Jan. 27, then I spoke with Chief Holland about blocking off the park that night at 10 p.m., so the guys can get in early Friday morning to begin prepping and blowing some snow. They don’t think that they are going to go until 10 p.m., but they do know that there is a noise ordinance, and they would have to shut everything off at 10 p.m., because of the ordinance.”
The amount of snow blowing that happens, McHan said, depends on what’s happening with the weather.
“If we already have snow, I don’t think they will have to blow too much,” McHan said. “Basically, the whole park will be covered in snow. We plan on blowing part of the pavement and moving towards Macon Banking on that slope so we can have a slide area. We plan on blowing snow on the other side, closer to the skating rink so we can set up a little area for the smaller kids to play. There will also be some snow blown on the pavement where the merry-go-round will go.”
There will be plenty of events during the festival that McHan said residents will be excited about.
“We will be having several things going on during the event like Snowga, which is Yoga in the snow. Highlands Yoga will be providing that,” McHan said. “The Bascom will be doing ice sculptures. We are also working with the school athletic boosters, and they are going to be making smores as a fundraiser for the athletic department. So, it is turning into a great event.”
The event is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 29, from 10 a.m., to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 30, from 10 a.m., to 5 p.m.
- By Christopher Lugo