Old Fashioned Holiday Open House a Tradition

About 1,600 people attended the Old Fashioned Holiday Open House at Winding Trails Sunday. The event, sponsored by Winding Trails, and The Exchange Club of Farmington, ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., squeezing hundreds of visits with Santa in between.

Young children bundled up and watched as Ed Jarrett, who built the record-breaking castle on the Winding Trails beach last summer, carved Rudolph out of a giant block of ice. The sculptor, who plans to build an even bigger castle at Winding Trails next year, intermittently carved out candy canes with children's names.

Also outside, families took sleigh rides pulled by Samuel and Adams from Foxglove Farms in Lyme, or petted animals from Circle K Farm in East Hampton. The Exchange Club provided hot chocolate and doughnuts holes as they collected money for scholarships and for the Parent and Child Center at Bristol Hospital. The Exchange Club has partnered in sponsoring the event for 15 years.

In Garmany Hall, magician Roger Moss had kids spellbound as he pulled scarves out of empty boxes and switched bunnies around mysteriously. The children laughed and yelled and delighted in revealing Moss' tricks.

Moss, who lives in Berlin, is the director of Parks and Recreation in East Hartford. He has been performing at the Winding Trails holiday event for six years.

Nearby, children decorated sugar cookies with colored icing and sprinkles or glued sequins onto cardboard mittens to create a holiday craft.

The warm building was a welcome shelter from the wind and weather outside. violinist Colan Callahan was one of the many summer camp workers helping out during Saturday's event.

"I was working food and it was cold and I said I can get my instrument and come inside and play," Callahan said. After his parents kindly brought Callahan his violin, the Farmington High School student entertained with holiday tunes.

Maya Fussell, another camp counselor, helped with indoor activities.

"It's a lot of fun. I got to decorate some cookies and this is a fun place. They do a lot of nice events," Fussell said.

Girl Scouts from Troop 61102 braved the cold throughout the day, selling handmade crafts. Twins Celeste and Angelica Padua huddled together behind a stack of coats.

Camp Director Keith Garbart was organizing families as they waited their turn to see Santa. Families were given numbers as they entered to prevent people from standing in line in the bitter cold.

"Winding Trails is a great place to have this event," Garbart said. "We love it and we love the holiday experience. It gives back to the community through the food drive."

Families were asked to bring a non-perishable food item to the event to be donated to the Farmington Food Pantry. Connor Goz and Ian Bomely, both Winding Trails staff, endured the cold, collecting items in a pickup truck. The two estimated that they had collected over 500 cans and boxes of pasta.

"It's a great community event," said Scott Brown, Winding Trails executive director. "It fits right in with our mission of serving the community and fostering a love of the environment especially with this young age group."

Recreation Director Priscilla Peale echoed Garbart's sentiments about bringing people together.

"It's all about spending time together," Peale said. "It's a nice opportunity to get together."