Winterfest coming to Marshbank Park in West Bloomfield

The West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Department will host Winterfest 2011 at Marshbank Park in West Bloomfield Township on Saturday, Feb. 12 beginning at noon and ending at 3 p.m.

A plethora of activities will be available for attendees, including turkey bowling, snow snake races, a frozen ice cream pie eating contest and a snowman building contest.

The festival will also have dog sled demonstrations, a tug-of-war and even “Frosty Golf.”

Hayrides will also be given at the park and there will be an area for ice skating and broom ball, but patrons are asked to bring their own skates.

The Optimist Club of West Bloomfield will sponsor food that patrons can purchase at the park’s new all-season shelter, while the Oakland County Snowshoe Mobile Unit will also be available for visitors who would like to try snowshoe walking.

The Winterfest will be the first large-scale event to take place at Marshbank Park since the major renovation effort that took place last year.

The improvements include a revamped sledding hill, the building of 8,200 feet of hard surface trail, and the construction of new fields for baseball and soccer along with two playground areas with rubber surfacing.

The renovation project was budgeted at $5.5 million, and was paid for in part through the sale of bonds.