Sandpoint Winter Carnival Ready To Roll, Snow Or Not Parades, Tribute To Photographer Ross Hall On Tap

Even if it rains today, the 26th annual Winter Carnival will go on.

This year’s carnival theme is “Salute to the Century,” so you can expect some historic-looking floats in today’s parade. The Festival of Lights Parade begins at 6 p.m. in downtown Sandpoint.

The Grand Marshals of the parade will be Hazel and Dann Hall, relatives of Ross Hall, the community’s well-known photographer.

Hall is being honored in this year’s carnival. One of his most popular photos, “Moonlight Tete a Tete,” featuring snow-encased trees along the Selkirk timberline, graces the Winter Carnival posters and brochures.

A special Ross Hall exhibition is on display today and all weekend at the Bonner County Historical Museum. More photos can be viewed around town as part of the “Ross Walk.” Maps of where to view private collections of Ross Hall photos are available at the Chamber of Commerce.

While the parade is getting under way, judges will be checking out the competition in the Miss Winter Carnival contest at Taps Bar in the Schweitzer Mountain Resort day lodge.

On Saturday, cooks in the Chili Cook-Off offer to ward off the winter chills with their hot and spicy concoctions. The contest is in the Bonner Mall between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

All day Saturday, Schweitzer Mountain Resort will host the winter games, including a snowman building contest, a cross country poker ski, the family feud race on a beginner level course, a tubing contest and the Selkirk Telemark Classic races.

Another parade will snake down the mountain at 5 p.m. when skiers head to the village by only the lights of their torches. Live music will follow at Taps.

The ice sculpture contest scheduled for Sunday has been canceled because of a lack of adequate snow.. As for the Old-Fashioned IceSkating Party, organizers are taking a wait-and-see attitude. It depends on the thickness of the ice on Sand Creek.

The party part of the ice-skating will go forward at Starbucks at noon.

The Winter Carnival is sponsored by the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, and co-sponsored by area businesses, GMC of the Inland Northwest, The Spokesman-Review and Destination Sandpoint.

PARADES The Festival of Lights Parade is tonight at 6 p.m. in downtown Sandpoint. A torchlight parade of skiers snaking down Schweitzer on Saturday starts at 5 p.m.