Tri-Town Winter Carnival Parade

Counties in New York State are divided into towns, which some other states call townships. The three adjacent towns of Brasher, Lawrence and Stockholm are so rural that they pool their resources for many things, including their annual Winter Carnival. This fire truck was from West Stockholm, a tiny, picturesque hamlet in the town of Stockholm:

The Foreign Legion Post of Winthrop, another hamlet in the town of Stockholm:

Helena is a hamlet in the town of Brasher. The parade was happening in Brasher Falls, also in the town of Brasher:

This year's Winter Carnival theme was "Olde Tyme Carnivale" and these revelers created a float which included popcorn and the games of "Hole In One" and "Ring Toss." I noticed a lot of crowns and fur-trimmed red robes, so these people must have been the King, Queen and other dignitaries:

The hamlets of Brasher Falls and Winthrop are adjacent but in two different towns. They pool their resources for many things, including a fire department:

I guess it's never too early to promote the Tri-Town Summer Festival, a much bigger event because of the much better weather:

The Tri-Town Volunteer Rescue Squad is headquartered in Brasher Falls, also the site of the regional school:

A fortune teller, in keeping with the theme of "Olde Tyme Carnivale:"

Lawrenceville is a particularly tiny hamlet in the town of Lawrence, but they have their own fire department:

Lots of costumes in keeping with theme, and riding on a truck belonging to a local business, Rick's Auto Body:

Hopkinton is a fourth town and not officially part of the Tri-Town pact, but they always support each other's events. Fort Jackson is a tiny, woodsy hamlet in the town of Hopkinton:

The local kids' hockey team, The Timberwolves (one word):

Another fire truck from the combined Brasher-Winthrop Fire Department. This was an even smaller parade than usual, but a heartwarming reminder of friendlier times, when neighbors came out to support each other and wave as their friends and children passed by in the parade. It was all over in about 15 minutes, but in north country winter weather, that was OK with me:

Tri-Town Winter Carnival Snowmobile Races

I'd read that the snowmobile races were to be held at the "Helena Racetrack" but Google had never heard of any such place. So I asked at the Brasher Falls general store and they had no idea where it might be either. They suggested I just drive to the tiny village of Helena and look around. It was a 10 minute drive, all within the town of Brasher. Indeed, I did notice this small sign stuck into the snow bank. I turned onto a plowed farm field, paid two dollars and parked my car:

The big attraction, and very close to where I parked my car, was the food stand. They were doing a good business selling hamburgers and hot dogs:

A man out behind the food stand was doing the grilling. The flat field out behind him was, apparently, the snowmobile race track:

Nearby, some men were cutting and splitting wood. I especially liked the hat with the Viking style horns:

There was no racing going on, but there were lots of snowmobiles parked singly or in groups, with men nearby, chatting:

Occasional riders roared by on their snowmobiles:

But the big action, I could tell, was down below - on the race track. It was a difficult walk to get down there, through deep snow. Apparently I could have driven, but I didn't know that at the time - and neither did a lot of other folks I met floundering in the snow. When I got to the plowed surface, I found this check station with a giant "1," indicating, I supposed, that it was to be the starting place for the races:

There were somewhere between 50 and 100 snowmobiles in various loud colors, shapes and sizes and I was amazed at how many people owned snowmobiles in the area. But then again, we sure do get lots of snow. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised:

I walked around, checking out the snowmobiles and making occasional smalltalk:

The deep snow on the field had been plowed, though what was beneath it was a hard surface of ice on which I had to tread carefully to avoid falling:

It was colder than I'd realized, so although I hadn't seen any actual races, I decided it was time for me to begin the long, snowy trek back to my car:

Despite the lack of any actual races, I found this a friendly and interesting event. My neighbors, I learned later, had also attended, similarly finding no real races and eventually giving up. But it was time for me to drive home and get warm. But first, since I was already there, I decided to take a photo tour of the village of Helena, which I'll post tomorrow:

Tri-Town Winter Carnival Parade

The three adjacent, rural towns were Lawrence, Brasher and Stockholm. I drove to the village of Brasher Falls to view the annual Winter Carnival Parade on a snowy Saturday. The parade began with marchers from the American Legion:

More American Legion marchers. That general store on the corner had provided me with a half sub and two homemade cookies just before the parade began, so I was feeling satisfied:

The theme appeared to be St. Patrick's Day, though there might also be some Irish connection with the first settlers to the area. This first Irish themed float included a king and queen. The man standing was my favorite part of the whole parade, as he kept shouting, "Merry Christmas" to the crowd. I always enjoy a wise guy:

There was a bevy of firetrucks and ambulances from the villages and settlements in the three towns. These were from the combined villages of Brasher Falls and Winthrop, the village of West Stockholm and a Tri-Town emergency rescue truck:

I don't know who sponsored this float, but it seemed to filled with leprechauns, drinking green beer and warming themselves by a real fire. Notice the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow:

Another float, this one sponsored by the Quad-Town Lions Club. I had no idea what the fourth town was:

More firetrucks and rescue vehicles, these all from the combined villages of Brasher Falls and Winthrop:

I knew the sponsor of this float. It was the "A Little Bit Of Heaven" horse rescue, which I often pass on my way to Brasher Falls. They have a lot of horses in their pasture:

More firetrucks. You can see why I combined the photos. These were from the villages/settlements of North Lawrence, Helena and Lawrenceville, all located within the three towns. New York State counties are divided into towns, what would be called townships in other states. Inside each town are cities, villages, settlements and other, smaller places. But that was all there was to the parade. I followed the last firetruck across the bridge and into Brasher Falls so I could get on the county road and go see the snowmobile races. But I'll post about that tomorrow: