Throughout the evening, children and their grown-ups paused by a storyteller station during the Winter Solstice celebration. Here, volunteer Betty Thornton reads to a small group about a fox who didn’t like winter.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Outdoorsy folks enjoy walk illuminated by sand candles
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Hundreds of people visited Nescopeck State Park in Drums on Thursday, where walking around the lake on a trail illuminated by sand candles was a popular activity.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Ainsley Segedy of Drums and her mother, Connie, are about to start their second lap around Lake Frances at Nescopeck State Park on Thursday, the first day of winter.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Trent Rudy tends a fire at Nescopeck State Park, where winter solstice visitors were welcome to toast marshmallows and make s’mores on Thursday evening.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
More than 300 sand candles, like this one, illuminated the trail around Lake Frances on Thursday evening, appearing ever more dramatic as darkness fell on ‘the shortest day’ of the year.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Hundreds of people visited Nescopeck State Park in Drums on Thursday, where walking around the lake on a trail illuminated by sand candles was a popular activity.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Throughout the evening, children and their grown-ups paused by a storyteller station during the Winter Solstice celebration. Here, volunteer Betty Thornton reads to a small group about a fox who didn’t like winter.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Ainsley Segedy of Drums and her mother, Connie, are about to start their second lap around Lake Frances at Nescopeck State Park on Thursday, the first day of winter.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Trent Rudy tends a fire at Nescopeck State Park, where winter solstice visitors were welcome to toast marshmallows and make s’mores on Thursday evening.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
More than 300 sand candles, like this one, illuminated the trail around Lake Frances on Thursday evening, appearing ever more dramatic as darkness fell on ‘the shortest day’ of the year.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Connie Segedy of Drums and her daughter, Ainsley, enjoyed their first lap around the lake at Nescopeck State Park so much, they decided to go around again.
“Then we’ll definitely do the s’mores,” Connie said with a grin as the pair joined hundreds of other area residents in celebrating the Winter Solstice late Thursday afternoon and early Thursday evening by walking the trail around Lake Frances and taking part in other park programs.
The solstice, or first day of winter, marks the time when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which gives the Northern Hemisphere its “shortest day” and “longest night.”
Early in the evening, Environmental Education Specialist Diane Madl said 800 people had attended last year’s inaugural “shortest day” program at the park, and this year there could be even more.
For many visitors, this year and last year, the highlight of the Winter Solstice event was the chance to walk the flat, 1-mile trail around the lake, which was illuminated by more than 300 sand candles.
“It’s very symbolic,” Theresa Gushaulis of Mountain Top said as she and her husband, Tom, made their way along the path. “It’s kind of like we’re going to power through winter.”
“The lights look so pretty,” Ainsley Segedy said. “I don’t mind that it’s cold.”
“I definitely approve of the weather this year,” Connie Segedy said, remembering how the path had been icy and slick in spots during last year’s event.
On Thursday, the illuminated trail was open for walking from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and as darkness fell, the contrast with the sand candles looked ever more dramatic.
Adding a touch of whimsy, some walkers wore strings of holiday lights around their necks, and Jean Horne of Sugarloaf sported a Pittsburgh Steelers cap that twinkled red and green as she walked with her cattle dog/pit bull mix, Ruger.
“I wanted to be festive,” Horne said.
Closer to the park office, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources employee Trent Rudy tended a fire where visitors could toast marshmallows to make s’mores as well as bask in the warmth.
At another post, volunteers Betty and Scott Thornton of Drums took a half-hour “storytime” shift, reading books to children and their grown-ups.
In one of the books, “Fox Versus Winter,” a fox’s friends —bear, frog and turtle — all “go to bed” for winter, while Fox tries unsuccessfully to leave town, and then battles winter with a flame-thrower.
But for many of Thursday’s solstice visitors, winter isn’t something to fight but something to enjoy.
“We come here in all seasons,” Connie Segedy said.
“It’s so nice that they loan out snow shoes and cross-country skis (at the park office),” Theresa Gushaulis said, adding that she and her husband would like to try those sports this season “if it ever snows.”