photos by RAY BLACK III
Joe Wilson takes his son, Jack, 3, on a high-speed run down the slopes during the Winter Wonderland event in Cary on Saturday.
Triangle communities beckoned winter this weekend with let's-pretend events to welcome the season.
Hundreds lined up for sled rides down a hill at Bond Park in Cary, where a company called Snow My Yard created instant fun with about 80 tons of ice dumped Friday night, Saturday and again today.
Dubbed Winter Wonderland at Bond Park, the event is so popular that it has sold out today's remaining rides. The slippery landscape is created with a snow-blowing machine that turns ice into snow. The company is also the mastermind behind the sledding ramps at Winterfest, Raleigh's annual salute to the season that kicked off Saturday evening.
That's where we found Randy Lee.
As he watched skaters prance and glide around an outdoor ice rink in downtown Saturday night, Lee could finally take a moment to relax.
Lee, general manager of Polar Ice House, battled Mother Nature to get the ice frozen in time for Winterfest.
Winter is taking a little longer to arrive this year, which meant Lee and his crew of ice doctors had to take on their mission as temperatures reached into the 70s.
Cooler weather showed up just in time. And nightfall helped, too.
"If it gets over 60 degrees, it does get a little wet," Lee said, keeping watch over the rink Saturday night. "As soon as the sun goes behind the Marriott, it freezes up right away."
Thousands filled Fayetteville Street for carriage rides, a carousel and two types of frozen amusements - the skating rink and sledding ramps for children.
The night also featured a tree-lighting ceremony led by Mayor Charles Meeker, who performed one of his final public duties before leaving office Monday.
More than 1,000 skaters were expected to enjoy the ice Saturday, easily besting last year's opening night turnout of 800 - an evening dampened by rain and snow, organizers said.
John Simpson watched his daughters from the rink's viewing area, where he stood among parents snapping photos of their children.
"I tried it last year and managed to walk around," Simpson said. "I'm not a skater."
At the sledding ramps on nearby Davie Street, children zoomed down the hill on plastic discs and begged parents and grandparents for one more trip.
Taylor Bascone was a little scared at first.
"She went down it once and realized how fun it was," said Jan Bascone, her grandmother. "Now she can't get enough."
