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Snow-covered hills provide family fun at Mill Creek's 1st Cabin Fever Fest
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Five-year-old Liam McMahan’s day got underway with a few bumps, but that didn’t stop him from smoothly reaching the top.
“The snow is packed, and the kids are having a blast,” said Liam’s father, Todd McMahan, after he nudged Liam and older son, Christopher, 11, down the hill on their sleds.
At the bottom, Liam hit a slight incline but was able to stay on his sled and extend his ride a bit farther.
The two Girard boys were among the youngsters who filled the snow-covered hill Saturday while performing a few turns and twists. Sledding also was one of the festive offerings for the first Cabin Fever Festival and Chili Cook-Off gathering at the James L. Wick Jr. Recreation Area, 1861 McCollum Road on the West Side.
The free family-oriented gathering was to give youngsters an opportunity to get out of the house and engage in festive activities to beat the winter doldrums, explained Rikki Brammer, Mill Creek MetroParks’ programs and events coordinator.
Competitors in the cook-off were judged in the categories of overall best, most colorful and spiciest, Brammer noted.
Christopher and Liam, both members of Warren-based Cub Scout Pack 101, sled ride yearly at the recreation area, said their father, who’s also Pack 101’s Cub master.
“In the winter, I like building snowmen, going skiing, igloo making, stuff like that,” said Christopher, a Mineral Ridge Elementary School fifth-grader.
On the warm side of things, many attendees sampled a variety of about 10 types of chili during the cook-off, including Wilbert Drayton’s.
“It gives you that sweet and spicy taste,” Drayton said, referring to a recipe that calls for sauteing green peppers and onions in butter and adding ground meat, kidney beans, dried tomatoes, brown sugar and a touch of oregano.
Drayton retired after having served 23 years with the Mill Creek MetroParks Police Department. He now works part time for the Mill Creek MetroParks and Youngstown State University police departments, and as a deputy sheriff for Youngstown City Schools.
Drayton added that his mother, Hattie Drayton of Patrick, S.C., came up with the recipe. For his efforts, Drayton’s chili was rated overall best, for which he took home a trophy.
Also available were child-identification kits for youngsters’ parents, courtesy of the park’s police department.
The packets contain space for children’s fingerprints, recent photographs and hair samples from which DNA can be extracted, all of which can make it easier to track youngsters who are missing or victims of foul play, noted Laura Cruickshank, a one-year auxiliary police officer.
The kits also have tips for keeping children safe, and it’s recommended that they be updated every six to 12 months, she advised.
Other festival activities included making water paintings in the snow, preparing s’mores treats in an open fire and tossing snowballs through two holes in an inflatable penguin.
Among the youngsters who gravitated toward the large penguin were Caleb Dowel, 2, and Sarah Green, 5. Accompanying them were their grandparents, Gary and Brenda Price of Warren.
Overall, the gathering allowed the young attendees to “break the winter blues and give the kids a midwinter break,” Brammer added.