Am I out of touch?

[Ebor]

Well, over on the west side of the Atlantic, "Winterfest" is often the name of an occasion in January/February/March along the lines of "It's cold, it's snowy. We're going to have something to liven things up before we all turn into hibernating bears or frostbitten curmudgeons." Common activites include snow sculpture, ice/ski racing (depending on if it's frozen moutains or frozen water) sledding, exhibits and so forth.
See for examples from my home state of Montana these:

http://www.seeleyswanpathfinder.com/eve ... rfest.html
http://gallatincomt.virtualtownhall.net ... WinterFest

In Missoula there will be a winterfest on February 5-6, 2005. While at "Big Sky" there will be one in March. (Winter lasts a while out in the Treasure State. )

I haven't found any links to the mayor you mentioned, gphadriag, when I googled.

Ebor

[sue57]

That's interesting. In the misery of winter in upstate NY, there's nothing after western Christmas until, well really, nothing 'til Easter. There's a long, long endless winter. Jan (after Nativity), Feb. and March go by reaaaaallllly slowly! I wish we had a mid-March holiday. Even all the yummy Christmas goodies (to be consumed after the Nativity fast, naturally), disapear from the grocery stores. There's nothing to make late winter less painful!
I wish I skied or snowboarded or something, so I could enjoy winter more. It's just so cold and nasty.

(On a related note, last year, a school in one of the really rich suburbs had a "winter display" with a decorated pine tree. You guessed it. Huge outcry. Now no holiday displays are allowed. In the town park where I grew up, the Hasidic Jews put up a giant menorah. Hey, it doesn't offend me, it's got pretty lights and it's cool to look at, also it's paid for privately. I suppose I could call the ACLU and sue the town, but why?? Interestingly, when the school furor was going on, several Jews wrote letters to the town paper, saying that they weren't offended, and that they enjoyed Christmas decorations!! They didn't want to be associated with the people who complained. Don't forget though, that a lot of school administrators are wacko hippies who are just waiting to retire. For some reason, they seemed to like the education profession.)

[TomS]

I wish I skied or snowboarded or something, so I could enjoy winter more.

Then start.

[gphadraig]

Sorry, Ebor, I did a trawl round and could not find my way back to it. The city was Stoke-on-Trent, whose main claim to fame was the making of china; hence the area being known as the Potteries.

[Ebor]

Hmm. Idle speculation as to why Winterfests happen in the West and not New York state.... Fewer people out there (about 800,000 in the whole state of Montana) so more impetus to get together? Things are spread out more, so people are used to being outdoors more (Montana is the 4th largest)? Low Humidity so being outside is more bearable as opposed to damp, soggy cold that seeps into the bones? I don't know.

I know of Stoke-on-Trent. Along with my reading, I've played "British Rail" a game that involves taking goods or materials around Great Britain on "train lines" that the players build. There are deliveries of china clay to Stoke-on-Trent and shipments of pottery from there.

Ebor

[gphadraig]

Ebor, what an interesting way to spend time. British Rail is now a thing of the past. Rail privatisation and all that. The clay and finished goods were originally moved around using 'narrow boats' on the canal system. The narrow boats were orginally moved by horse and 'walked' by the bargees through the tunnels. Later steam moved in, and then the trains were too follow. Progress. Now what was the focus of this thread, I have completely forgotten. Sorry.

[sue57]

Good advice, Tom S. Last winter, I didn't have health insurance, and attempting to ski or snowboard without it didn't seem too prudent.