Charles City Cabin Fever Weekend events see high turnout

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com
There was something for everybody to do in Charles City this weekend as Cabin Fever brought out hundreds of people to party, play, and participate in a wide range of area events.
Organized by the Charles City Chamber of Commerce, the weekend featured a full schedule of activities to encourage the community to get out and enjoy what the city has to offer.
“The indoor activities went very well,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “Judging from the numbers we’re seeing, people got out and about.”
Saturday was a big day for kids activities, starting off on Saturday morning as the Charles City Public Library hosted the biggest party in town.
Kids and their parents lined up around the library for the Bluey Party as more than 500 people had fun with the beloved cartoon puppy and his friends.
“It’s about twice as what we were expecting,” said Library Director Annette Dean. “We should have known with Bluey.”
Bluey’s visit, accommodated by Hy-Vee, included photo opportunities, snacks, and a variety of games as kids filtered through the Zastrow Room.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Children’s Librarian Stacey Leerhoff. “Somebody told me we should have Bluey here more often.”
Later in the afternoon, the library found itself full once again as 60 kids rampaged through the stacks for a special Family NERF event.
On Saturday night, the Charles City Elementary PTO put on a Winter Snow Ball for pre-k through 4th grade students in the community.
Accepting donations of snacks to replenish the school’s snack supply, the party featured a DJ, games, and photo shoots as kids packed the high school cafeteria and gymnasium.
“It’s a good turnout,” said PTO member Amy Joslin.
And while there was no snow outside, the kids still got to enjoy a snowball fight, throwing soft balls of faux snow around the gym.
Over at the Charles City Arts Center, visitors were invited inside to play chess on the giant chess board or venture outside for the Cabin Fever Scavenger Hunt on Saturday where teams scoured the city looking for a series of local landmarks.
On Sunday, the Arts Center offered a way for people to get a head start on Valentine’s Day with an afternoon workshop to craft vintage valentines.
The weekend even featured fun for the four-legged as PAWS Animal Shelter held open house hours all weekend for families to meet with some furry friends. The shelter saw 31 visitors who brought in donations, inquired about volunteering, and even filed for adoptions.
Outside the city limits, Floyd County Conservation offered a full weekend of activities. On Thursday, 20 participants came out for the regular Women in the Woods with Wine event at the Tosanak Recreation Area. Normally meeting once a month, this was a special occasion as men were invited to join in for an evening of co-ed Jeopardy.
“It’s a great way to get exposed to nature,” said Naturalist Heidi Reams. “It’s a fun time.”
Lack of snow on Saturday shut down plans for cross country skiing, but the warmer weather did bring in a strong crowd for the evening Owl Prowl, where 16 people hiked out and called any owls in the area.
“This year the owls finally cooperated,” said Reams. “That was pretty exciting.”
Finally, on Sunday, it was Bird Feeder Palooza at the Rockford Fossil & Prairie Center as eight participants made suet bird feeders and tube thistle feeders.
Not every outdoor event suffered from lack of snow though.
Out at the Elks Lodge #418, the Elks put on its first annual Elks Beer Curling Fest.
“You slide 30-packs of beer down the ice instead of a curling ball,” said Elks Exalted Rule Zach Sullivan.
Thirty-six teams of three signed up to go out on the frozen Elks pond and slide cases of Busch Light in a double-elimination tournament as spectators watched from the shoreline.
“It went awesome,” said Sullivan. “We were real pleased with the turnout.”
After an afternoon of competitive beer curling, Team Last Chance was the winner of the day. Marty Banks, Kylie Banks, and Travis Bilharz went home with the first place prize money and a specially designed cake pan trophy commemorating the inaugural event.
“It’s great,” said Sullivan. “We plan on this being a yearly thing out here.”
The beer curling competition, along with a raffle and free-will offering meal, raised funds for the Elks to fix up the grounds buildings. Sullivan gave his appreciation for the 22 area businesses that contributed to the event.
“If it wasn’t for the local businesses, we wouldn’t get a lot done around here,” said Sullivan.
Along with special activities, the weekend served as a showcase for the regular events Charles City has to offer.
Otto’s Oasis kicked off the Cabin Fever Weekend on Thursday with its regular monthly floral arrangement class.
“We had a lot of fun,” said florist Christopher Anthony. “Since we’ve not had much winter, we switched it up and did a more springy arrangement.”
At the Floyd County Museum, elementary aged kids visited for the Museum Kids program on Saturday afternoon, where kids were invited to tour the museum and learn about historical winter activities.
Kids also had plenty to do this weekend at the YMCA, which featured roller skating on Friday and open swims on Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, over at the Charles Theatre, “Autumn and the Black Jaguar” was a daily family-friendly movie through the weekend.
At the Charles City Community Center, 106 people turned up for bingo on Saturday night.
“It was great,” said volunteer Judy Hauser. “We had a really great time.”
With 20 rounds of games to play through, the tables were filled as people watched their cards and snacked their way through sandwiches and dessert bars. Lori Taylor was the lucky winner of the $500 jackpot prize, but with seven pans of dessert bars on the tables everybody was a winner in one way or another.
“We didn’t have many left,” said Hauser.
The Community Center hosts BINGO every Tuesday and hopes that the weekend will encourage more participation in its regular activities.
With dozens of events spanning the schedule, the Cabin Fever Weekend saw turnout for many of its activities and showcased the wide variety of things to do in the community.
“We have a lot of things going on around town that a lot of people don’t realize,” said Wicks. “This is a great way to show people what they have to offer.”





















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