Pine Lodge was a winter-lover’s haven on Saturday, as hundreds of people from both sides of the Ottawa River travelled to Bristol to celebrate Family Day by participating in a number of snowy activities.

According to . . .

Pine Lodge’s manager Jody Thompson, the event is excuse for families to get together and enjoy the day in the outdoors without having to spend all their money to do so.

“We don’t charge to use the activities because we just want as many people as possible to come out and just play outside and get the community together in a different light,” she said. “Having the kids play together, that’s mostly what it’s all about.”

Featuring a multi-faceted sliding hill with a ramp, a pond-hockey rink and enough snowshoes of all sizes for everyone there wasn’t a shortage of activities for little ones and parents alike to participate in.

“We kind of made like a whole day of it,” Thompson said. “We love playing outside and we have two young boys too. So, we might as well get everybody to come and enjoy.”

Attendees also had a chance to enjoy the evening by partaking in horse-drawn sleigh rides along a glowing light trail, courtesy of Michel Allen from Élevage Fabie.

Adding to the thrill, Ski Pontiac was on site providing free ski rentals and leading a cross country skiing session during the day, followed by a moonlight skiing session in the evening.

“We kind of collaborated with Ski Pontiac,” Thompson said. “We figured if people were going to come up for an event, we might as well try and get more people to come and enjoy it.”

Donating three dollars to Ski Pontiac per person served in the restaurant, the Pine Lodge donated $300 to the organization by the end of the day.

Ski Pontiac typically hosts two to three moonlight ski sessions per year, with the next session scheduled on March 7, according to Ski Pontiac Director Bonnie Beveridge.

The organization was supposed to host its first one of this year in January, but had to cancel it because of rain.

Beveridge said that the event was an opportunity for the organization to raise funds to pay for a number of its important expenses.

“We’re always needing more equipment, paying for the groomers, paying for the gas and insurance,” she said. “We have quite a few bills to pay. We have to change our machines every three to four years. They need repairs.”

Ski Pontiac also invited attendees to support them by donating small sums of money, and participating in a 50/50 draw and a raffle for a collection of valuable items that included bottles of hard cider from Coronation Hall and a glamourous shiny necklace.

With over 13 kms of ski trails, participants roamed at their own pace, either by ski or snowshoe, and basked in the glow of the torchlit path along the golf course.

“We try to keep it close to Pine Lodge because there are so many people that haven’t been here before,” she said. “We want people to come out and enjoy themselves, to come out try snowshoeing or skiing. Winter isn’t so long.”

Pine Lodge has hosted the event annually since 2012, except for last year because its kitchen was undergoing renovations.

Thompson explained that this year’s event was quite different than in years past because most of the activities took place during the evening, noting that the event has typically taken place during the daytime.

She added that Pine Lodge has looked into organizing an additional event for families and young children during the day, while also hosting one during the evening to accommodate the interests of as many people as they can.

“Maybe not the same day, maybe different weekends,” she said.

Having been part of it every year, Thompson said that she really enjoys how the event allows her and others to create memories with family and friends while meeting all sorts of new people along the way.

Drawing plenty of people from far and near to make this year’s Family Day a memorable one, Thompson was delighted with how the event played out.

“We did our absolute best,” she said. “It was a couple more people than we were anticipating. But it was great. Everybody seemed to have really good time.”

Skye Sigman rockets down the sliding hill at a frenetic pace.

Curtis Poirier burts out laughing after wiping out on the swerving slide on Saturday afternoon.

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