Gravity And Gaiety: Sledding At Treadwell

By Kendra Bobowick

Sledders broke free from the bystanders clustered on the hillside at Treadwell Park Sunday, trickling downward on toboggans, or running faster on inflated tubes. Glare bouncing off the slick white hillside Sunday morning following Saturday’s snowstorm on January 10 had beckoned to residents ready to shed their cabin fever. By early afternoon, friends tucked three-deep on a sled or sitting solo would aim their snow boots downhill.

Once the sun crept over the horizon and brightened the morning — much more lighthearted than the prior day’s cloud cover that dropped several inches of snow on the region — parents were eager to bundle children and family dogs into the car and head for something more fun.

Already at work on the excitement, a young man stood midslope with a red plastic snow shovel. He had piled then packed down a mound where children aimed their downward runs, hoping to briefly leave the ground then bump back down with laughter before level ground slowed their ride.

Trading in his receipts and balance sheets of budgets and figures for the afternoon and tugging on a ski hat and gloves, Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze settled on a sled with his daughter Cassie. The two peered below, waiting for a clear path to maneuver their sled.  Nearby, Keeley Kortze’s bright blond pigtails bounced behind her as she followed her father and sister, taking a brisk ride on a friend’s tube. Laughing at her two small dogs, Romeo and Tramp, Joan Theriault waited side-by-side with Karl Miller, looking for an opening on the hillside. The two tipped their sleds impatiently toward the bottom. On a later solo run, Karl was among those aiming for the jump while riding his sled on his hands and knees.

With his mother Mimi watching for signs of trouble, Ryan Beardsley, who had injured a leg while skiing on a family vacation during Thanksgiving break, was sledding for the first since he recently had his cast removed. Pulling his orange board to the top of the hill and looking back at his tracks, his mother noted, “It’s good [physical] therapy.” Hurrying back up the hill overlooking the multiuse field at Treadwell, friends Meghan Delp, Amanda Solomon, and Grace Larson hardly noticed the chill as they got their rides ready for another rush back down. Wadding a tuft of snow in her mittens and taking a taste, Grace agreed that the snow certainly “tasted cold.”

Midway back up to the top of the hill, Natalie Kelchner surveyed the options for another run back down. Her last trip was “cool” when she went over the jump. Did the stunt make her nervous? “No,” she said. With her were her father Bill and brothers Hayes and Harry, all having fun Sunday. Closer to the pavilion and playground where the downhill tilt was less severe, Ella Hall, 2, stood in her pink snowsuit, arms jutting out in the overstuffed fabric. Soon she bounced down near her toboggan, losing interest in the afternoon. Was she overdue for a nap? Her father thought so as he tried to prop her on the wooden sled for another ride.

Also on top of the ridge, Dan Holmes of Holmes Fine Gardens and the Clean Energy Task Force searched through the hundreds of rosy cheeks looking for his daughter Hanna, 8, and her cousin Emily, who was also sledding Sunday. Roughly 20 yards below, Michael Hartman reclined on his sled, his red, spiked hat standing out against the bleached white background. He was “taking a rest” he said, before hauling his sled back up the hill. Along for that particular ride was his daughter Emily, who smiled as her father noted that the family was sledding at Treadwell for the first time this year.