By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
WOODLAND — While the rest of the country will be observing Groundhog Day on Thursday, Feb. 2, Woodland will be awash with Woodchuck Pride that day with two Winter Carnival traditions — the time honored speaking contest to determine who will be crowned Winter Carnival king and queen and the fun, new tradition in its second year, the wood-chucking contest; these two popular events set the stage for the Winter Carnival on Saturday, Feb. 4 starting at 8:45 a.m.
The morning kicks off with races of all sorts — skiing, snowshoeing, potato sack and three-legged — but there’s one race in particular that adult members of the Woodland community have seemingly been talking (and sometimes bragging) about since last year’s Winter Carnival: the adult tubing race.
Any participant or past-participant in Woodland’s Winter Carnival will attest to the fact that the adults can be much more competitive than any 12-year-old out there when it comes to tubing, but the good-natured ribbing participants give each other is in keeping with the Woodchuck pride instilled in community members of all ages.
“Winter Carnival is such a community event,” explained Debbie McPherson, a woodchuck parent, school ed tech and PTA vice president. She described how teachers and parents volunteer their time to work in the cafeteria and bundle up outside to run activities, record race times — even businesses and individuals throughout the county donate items for the annual Winter Carnival Raffle.
While the week will certainly be a winter wonderland for the Woodchucks, six in particular will be vying for the titles of Winter Carnival King and Queen. Participating in Thursday’s speaking contest at 1:30 p.m. will be Mollie Cummings, Adrianna Bither, Desiree Belanger, Josh McCormack, Gunnar Bondeson and Ricky Schmidt.
While Thursday’s contest is all about speaking, the Woodchucks have also spent plenty of time writing; furthering school spirit, mid-level students have been writing advice-style letter to Woody and Woodrina Woodchuck, which the school’s mascots have happily answered. The letters are posted in the hall next to a wall-high paper woodchuck.
For example, one letter reads:
“Dear Woody,
My mom uses too much hairspray! It makes the floor really sticky and it smells. Do you have a solution? Please Help Me!
-Stickyfeet”
The woodchuck replied:
“Dear Sticky-Feet,
You could wash the floor and open a window for fresh air.
Love,
Woody.”
