This past week brought our community a few days of school closings due to snow, ice, and temperatures. For the safety of all school employees and children, time to stay off dangerous roads was necessary. This is Michigan and nothing to be surprised at as families make adjustments for the closures. I follow many young families on social media and it’s fun to read questions and comments —”do you think there will be a snow day tomorrow?”…”I sure hope the call comes early enough to make arrangements for my kids!” 

I remember those hopeful feelings myself. As a student in the 50s through the 70s, I recall sitting perched in front of the TV with the morning news tuned in, waiting for the school closing banner at the bottom of the screen to announce Saginaw City Schools are closed due to snow! Once those magical words appeared, off went the school clothes, into play gear and calls to friends on the telephone to arrange our day outside playing in the snow!

My two older brothers were charged with clearing the driveway and sidewalks. We lived on a corner lot so our amount of sidewalk was double compared to the other houses. Once their chore was finished, they threw their shovel over a shoulder and went in search of families to help, even hoping to earn a few bucks from an elderly couple or two.

This week my husband and I were out for a couple errands on Tuesday. We passed the community park and I glanced over to take a look at the sledding hill. It was covered with beautiful white snow, but there were no children with sleds.

At the end of December our daughter and I drove to Saginaw for a bridal shower. We took the road that routed us through South Saginaw and eventually to Washington Avenue which is home to the lumber barons’ homes, the Children’s Zoo, and a beloved place from my childhood–Hoyt Park. 

Every winter the city’s recreation department flooded Hoyt Park with millions of gallons of water, creating an ice skating rink along with hockey rinks at one end. It cost us nothing to skate or use toboggan runs at Hoyt. All we needed was warm clothes, skates, a sled and a few friends to enjoy a full day of outdoor fun. When our hands, feet and faces got too cold, we could sit inside the “warming house” until we thawed, returning to the cold for another round of winter play. I remember some days on the weekends when our dad stayed to sled or skate with us. Other times, our parents thought nothing of dropping us off at the curb with instructions on what time to be ready for pickup. Our only supervision for the day was under cold gray or sunny skies and following the rules of one or two city employees “manning” the warming house.

Seeing the empty sledding hill at the park caused me feelings of sadness. First, I recognized the contrast between how I couldn’t wait to get outside on a snow day to some kids today. Over the years I’ve noticed fewer and fewer children at our parks. I have my own thoughts as to why but that’s not the purpose of my topic this week. I’m willing to bet, however, that current technology and trust levels of parents are playing a large role in keeping today’s children inside warm homes. I understand concerns for safety and protection.

As sad as I feel, looking at empty parks, I am very thankful for my childhood years that included cold wintry seasons. Deep snowfalls allowed us to build snow forts, form an organized snowball fight in our neighborhood, find creative ways to keep snow from going into our boots as we trudged through drifts, catching a snowflake on our tongue and seeing how long we could withstand the cold before returning home, hoping mom had hot chocolate ready and rubbing cold red hands between hers to speed up the thawing process that mittens didn’t fully protect from hours of packing and piling snow.

I hung up my ice skates years ago. Sledding isn’t the best thing for me at my current age, but I still find ways to enjoy being outside after a good snow storm. Where we live I can walk on a road that takes me back to a wooded area where I can stand in the quiet cold air and breathe in its freshness. I am able to marvel at how snow makes different patterns on tree trunks and reveals numerous tracks from a variety of animals that live in the woods. 

I’m still careful how deep the snow is before taking steps into a drift. Warm mittens still adorn my aged hands. When I return home it’s “me” who makes the hot chocolate or tea…reminiscing and missing my mother’s warm hands rubbing cold little fingers as she assured me “you’ll warm up soon”…knowing at that age nothing could stop me from enjoying another chance to be outside with my friends to find ways to use a cold wintry day to our delight….and still acknowledging that though I may have some physical limitations now, I can still find joy on a beautiful snowy day.

I can still catch snowflakes on my tongue. And–admittedly–I can still make a snow angel. They always look pretty even if the “getting back up” isn’t very attractive! We still build snowmen when the snow is “just right”. 

A view of Hoyt Park from 2013, showing

 the newly remodeled warming house.

 Credit: mlive.com