Meagan Briganti is a big fan of the Red Oak Nature Center in North Aurora, saying she and her daughter Keira, 3, go there three times a week, including a visit to the annual Frosty Fest at the Fox Valley Park District facility Saturday evening.
“We’ve come to this event three times now and my daughter liked the snowflakes,” Briganti said just after night fell. “We’d be here tonight even if it was 20 degrees, just probably not as long.”
Saturday’s temperatures which rose above the freezing point provided a milder background for the festival, “where participants are encouraged to experience winter after the excitement of the holidays have passed,” organizers said.
Fox Valley Park District officials working at the Red Oak Nature Center noted this was the sixth year of the event and that the goal more than a half decade ago was to highlight nature.
“Nature is still beautiful in the wintertime after the holidays and we wanted people to go outside and explore and see all that (Mother Nature) could put on, even in the cold,” said Renee Oakley, facility manager. “That was our goal. To get people out in nature.”
The event has grown over time beginning with about 40 guests the first season and now reaching at least 100 the past three years.
Saturday’s crowd of over 100 was declared “a sell-out” by district officials.
“The popularity has increased not just because the weather has been cooperative each time, it’s been because nature is putting on a show,” Oakley said. “I think people like to kind of not have the hustle and bustle of the holidays overshadow any time in nature, and so when they come out to Frosty Fest they get to enjoy nature at their own pace and she always puts on a good show.”
The event offered two different self-guided activities including a storybook hike where participants could read a story “with a frosty theme” or elect to follow an illuminated snowflake trail before enjoying an outdoor campfire and a hot cup of cocoa and roasted marshmallows.
“We do offer some guided activities to help people and they are always amazed at how much fun it can be outside,” Oakley said. “With the activities, if they feel like maybe they’re not getting anything from nature we’ve got some fun things for them to do along the way.”
Oakley said that kids “could also enter the Nature Center and see what our animals do at night.”
“We have lights throughout the event and we have snowflake glasses so that everywhere you look every little twinkle light is going to look like a snowflake,” she said.
Rachel Zeifert of Oswego brought her children to the event for the first time on Saturday.
“I’m here because it’s better weather today compared to what it’s been and my kids were fortunate to do one of their programs here last year where they got to do the habitats with animals and stuff, so they absolutely loved it,” she explained.
Both she and her children were enthusiastic about the outdoor activities they had just completed.
“We watch their website and knew about this event. We started outside and did the storybook walk and we did the senses walk which was really cool with the QR codes and they had games connected to each of those,” she explained.
Molly Zeifert, 9, said roasting marshmallows was her favorite part of being outdoors.
“I ate two,” she said. “My mom wouldn’t let me have three. When my mom told me we were coming, I was very excited.”
Alicia and Ryan Frantzen of Aurora brought their daughter and son out for the fest and declared the weather to be great.
“Especially after last week, this is wonderful,” Alicia Frantzen said as the family was checking in with staff at the event. “We already got some food early and so we’re ready to go. I know they wanted people to come out and enjoy nature and I agree with that 100%.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
