​Ripley Winter Carnival greeted with plenty of snow and warmer weather

The weather was kinder, gentler and calmer this year, as a great crowd gathered at the Ripley-Huron Community Centre for the annual Ripley Winter Carnival on the weekend.

The event began Friday night with the costume skate, featuring a number of young people in colourful outfits, at the Ripley Arena. A brief snowstorm blew in around supper time but didn't last long.

Saturday saw a number of Huron-Bruce Minor Hockey games, as well as the pancake breakfast where about 500 people enjoyed a delicious meal of scrambled eggs, ham, pancakes and toast, with coffee and milk or chocolate milk.

It was perfect weather for the horse-drawn sleigh rides, as Jim and Fran Farrell of Farhope Farms and their family drove the team of horses, and lots of people enjoyed a ride around the outside of the arena.

The Ripley-Huron firefighters gave tours of one of the fire trucks and talked to the crowd about fire safety. The Bruce County Library also had its Bookmobile on hand for people to check out.

A large group of children and adults took in the ice-painting, Saturday afternoon, creating numerous masterpieces on the ice surface at the arena. A euchre tournament was held in the afternoon, followed by the hockey skills competition and public skating.

The day ended with the Ripley Wolves taking on the Shelburne Muskies in Game 2 of their playoff series. The Wolves won, 14-2.

Sponsors of the winter carnival include: The Beefway, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Green's Meat Market, Ripley Lions Club, Ripley Agricultural Society, Rosewood RVilla, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, B.M. Ross and Associates, P&H, Ripley-Huron Fire Department, Ripley Wolves, and the Township of Huron-Kinloss.

Also on hand at the winter carnival, was the Ripley Reunion committee which presented cheques to numerous charities and organizations. The funds were the proceeds from the reunion held last summer.